Madden 18 is 4th Best Selling Game of 2017

[Grey_Osprey]

My concern would be that this positively reinforces their decision to neglect franchise mode and will set a precedence of declining investment in the mode moving forward.

I will even go out on a limb and say that I wouldn't be surprised if they're considering removing offline franchise mode and going to an always online game. There would be benefits for them from such a move. Hope I'm wrong, but time will tell.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Clearly they don't have the priorities that we would like them to, but these devs at least seem to care about innovating CFM, even if it is at a slower pace then many of us would like to see. I am a huge soccer fan and I get Fifa every year and man that team seriously doesn't care about their career mode. It gets minimal improvements each year and any bugs that are in when the Beta releases are not fixed throughout the whole year, despite lots of feedback from the community. At least with Madden we get updates post-launch and they're asking what we want to see in CFM next year.

[DaGreatOne21]

Quote: Originally Posted by aholbert32

Ok...I'm going to be Debbie Downer. The fact that Madden is the only NFL football game could be a reason why the game sold so well. With that said, there could be other reasons...... Maybe the buying public doesnt think the game is as bad as OS and other online forums think it is? Maybe the buying public doesnt care about CFM that much and is happy that they are focusing MUT and other online games? Maybe the buying public likes modes like Longshot? EA just released a game where the devs were open about not adding much to franchise (the focus of most hardcore sports gamers) and that had screwed up offline gameplay for the first 3 mos of release because of the QB AI issue...and its still in the top 5.

Sorry, but Id bet every last penny I have that if the game didnt have the NFL license, it wouldnt even sell 1/5th of what it sells WITH it. Seriously....every last single penny I have...thats how confident I am that the games lofty sales figures are almost entirely reliant on them having the exclusive license.

The NFL is an extremely marketable brand which sells the game for EA, because a HUUUUUUGE draw to playing an NFL licensed game is playing as your favorite teams and players.

Take that away, and what are you left with?

Quote:

Maybe the buying public doesnt think the game is as bad as OS and other online forums think it is?

They dont....but Im still 100% confident the game wouldnt sell anywhere close to what it does without the NFL license carrying it.

Im a very outspoken critic of Madden, and even I will say the game isnt god awful. The main issue that myself and many other hardcore football fans and longtime sim football gamers have isnt so much that Madden is a terrible game....its that its a painfully mediocre and doesnt notably improve year after year, and they seemingly ignore a huge portion of their potential fanbase by catering to a certain group.....but they dont cater to them as much as they exploit them.

A large portion of the buying public are young fans (between 10 and 20) who a) want to play as their favorite teams/players and b) play with friends....so long as the game isnt terrible, people will continue to flock to the game....but that success is still entirely reliant on the NFL license.

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Maybe the buying public doesnt care about CFM that much and is happy that they are focusing MUT and other online games?

NBA 2K sold better than Madden. 2K has a much better franchise mode than Madden does. Not saying franchise mode is the reason it sold better, but I guarantee, more people care about franchise mode than you may think....enough that a good mode could help drive up sales. I know a ton of people who skip Madden because of franchise mode being poor.

On top of that, why do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Why cant people enjoy both? Maybe the reason people dont care about CFM is because EA doesnt care about it?

For example...If a mediocre RPG comes out and its sells poorly....is it more logical to think that the game didnt sell because no one cares about RPGs? Or is it more logical to think that they game didnt sell well because it simply wasnt good.

Same applies to franchise mode? Improve the mode....more people who DONT buy it WILL buy it, and more people who supposedly dont care for the mode WILL care for it if EA puts some effort into it.

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Maybe the buying public likes modes like Longshot?

Im not saying they dont, but I can guarantee Longshot had absolutely nothing to do with why the game sold so well. It sells every year.

Once again, its sells because it has the NFL license....not because its a great game.

Lets put it this way....if tomorrow, the NFL decided it didnt want any more NFL licensed games AT ALL, and next year, we got "EA Sports Football 2019" with generic players and teams....do you honestly think game sales would be even remotely close to what they are WITH the NFL license?

EA has a well documented past of riding the coattails of popular franchises to big game sales.....Star Wars, Harry Potter,Madden NFL etc...

Bottom line....the great sales dont really dont prove anything, and as long as EA has the NFL license and the game is "good enough", people will flock to it because its the only option available.

[kjcheezhead]

It does say something that NBA2k outsells a football game if we are talking North American sales. World wide, that doesn’t surprise me.

Other than that, it’s the same story every year. Pencil madden in as a top 5 selling game. I think the game is garbage. Spent 2 Redbox rentals on it and wish I could get my money back. Nothing would make me happier than seeing it sell 1/10th of what it does. It’s never going to happen. Americans love football and EA owns the exclusive.

If Madden 06 on the 360/PS3 can sell as many copies as it did than any future madden will sell enough to maintain the status quo before anyone adds in the revenue for MUT.

[gr18]

There's way more people that only play Madden and don't play any other video games. Many of these are men that have families and jobs and don't have alot of free time. Most of the guys I know that play other video games regularly haven't touched Madden in years because it has a reputation of being a mess.I know guys that would rather play updated Tecmo Bowl.

[SilverChaosVII]

This is the problem. The game is doing well. EA isn't going to change.

I bought this game after months and months and months of waiting. It seemed they finally fixed the AI QB issue so I bit. Only to find a week later they broke something else.

I've seriously given up hope on a good football game until they have some competition.

[Other Guy]

At this point, Madden is going to be top 5 in sales every year irrespective of the quality of the game. It's longtime presence in the industry and exclusivity pretty much guarantee it. I compare it to McDonald's. They have great sales every year, but that doesn't mean they serve good food. It's just a matter of tradition and convenience.

Another thing, I would assume that the sales for 18 are based on the quality of 17. Most Madden players probably don't follow every announcement and tweet about the game; If they like it one year, they buy the next one. We'll see if 18 is bad enough to affect sales for 19.

[roadman]

Just don't think that will happen with the developers receiving praises and salutes on Twitter for Madden 18.