Madden 18 is 4th Best Selling Game of 2017

[PhillyPhanatic14]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkai.../#4b3af0f6ab2b

The game is certainly doing well. Hopefully they'll pour some of those profits into CFM in Madden 19.

[Datninja619]

Meh. American Football fans only have one game to buy. No gamer choice.
There's a choice between COD or BF.
NBA 2K or NBA Live.

The real achievement here is GTA V showing how a game can still remain relevant by providing FUN and (I think free) DLC.
Or Horizon Zero Dawn which is only sold on one platform.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Quote: Originally Posted by Datninja619

Meh. American Football fans only have one game to buy. No gamer choice. There's a choice between COD or BF. NBA 2K or NBA Live. The real achievement here is GTA V showing how a game can still remain relevant by providing FUN and (I think free) DLC. Or Horizon Zero Dawn which is only sold on one platform. Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

Agreed. GTA V is crazy impressive to still be ranked this high so many years after release and they continue to release more free and high-quality DLC than any other game.

[Hooe]

I ask this question as sincerely as possible:

Why should we as gamers care about Madden's sales numbers? How do those numbers materially affect our individual and shared experience with the game we have in our hands?

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

I ask this question as sincerely as possible: Why should we as gamers care about Madden's sales numbers? How do those numbers materially affect our individual and shared experience with the game we have in our hands?

I remember back around release there was a lot of negativity concerning the lack of innovation (or anything new at all) in CFM and the lack of gameplay videos until right before launch and many here stated they weren't going to buy the game to show EA that change needs to happen. Doesn't seem to have had any impact this year.

[edaddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

I remember back around release there was a lot of negativity concerning the lack of innovation (or anything new at all) in CFM and the lack of gameplay videos until right before launch and many here stated they weren't going to buy the game to show EA that change needs to happen. Doesn't seem to have had any impact this year.

LOL that will never happen football is an american pastime and between having one option ,the football itch, and impulse buying based off of marketing tools it's a lock that it will continue to sell...In order to make any impact you have to buy it used even buying at a discounted rate during Black Friday ups the sales total. We can just hope a better product is put out every year..I hope that becomes the case..

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by triplechin

So then what must we do as people who want to enjoy franchise mode to make them take advantage of this system's capabilities and put real effort into the mode?

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

All one can do is get your ideas/suggestions to Rex on Twitter, he asked last week about what the community would like to see in CFM and hope for the best. All indications are that CFM will see improvements for Madden 19, the shot from the 2k team, the buzz on Twitter and all over, the hiring of extra people for CFM, and the survey from Rex last week. For now, it's a waiting game till June because we all know that it will be radio silent till than on anything for Madden 19, although there might be some crumbs on Twitter.

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

I ask this question as sincerely as possible: Why should we as gamers care about Madden's sales numbers? How do those numbers materially affect our individual and shared experience with the game we have in our hands?

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

I remember back around release there was a lot of negativity concerning the lack of innovation (or anything new at all) in CFM and the lack of gameplay videos until right before launch and many here stated they weren't going to buy the game to show EA that change needs to happen. Doesn't seem to have had any impact this year.

Pulling over some posts from another thread: Bringing up the sales number is important for the reasons that Philly mentioned and because of the general tenor of a lot of the discussions here. The core development direction of Madden isn't going to change, there isn't going to be this mass exodus of people who are going to stop buying Madden because of the unhappiness that a portion of the customer base has about how CFM has been handled for the last few years.

The improvements to the mode that do come are going to happen because of consistent constructive feedback, not venting or ranting here or cussing out the team on Twitter. One simply has to decide if they're in or out with that process.

[pietasterp]

Agree w/ the above.

Look, we're stuck with Madden for the foreseeable future. The barrier to entry at this point for another company is too high even if the NFL made the license available to anyone that wanted it. Heck, even if it were completely free to get an NFL license, the amount of money to develop a football game from scratch at this point probably wouldn't even be worth it (you'd be hard-pressed to recoup your development costs).

The sales numbers are interesting in that it gives you a sense of where Madden is in comparison to the biggest franchises in gaming, but that's about it. As we've all seen, EA's (and every big publisher's) long-term goal with all games is to turn them into recurring, perpetual monetization machines, and they will start with their largest properties. Look at FIFA as a direct roadmap to where Madden is headed: it's all about the Ultimate Team and microtransaction-based gameplay. Every decision about the game will be based on how it impacts that monetization, not on making a more accurate or better football game. The days of trying to make the best football game possible are over; that ended in 2005.

Sales of a game are relevant to EA only insofar as it gives them an installed base to leverage for future recurring microtransactions. That's the way it is with pretty much all games now and forever going forward; the gaming industry is just different now. Whether it's better or worse is a matter of personal opinion.