Madden 2006 sold 2.5 million copies in August

[cman321]

I am sure EA profits are way down. Since the license is 250mm over 5 years, this equates to 50mm per year. This means madden must sell $50 x 1mm extra copies to break even on revenue. Actually its a lot more than having to sell an extra 1mm copies b/c each game they sell is no where near pure profit (probably like 50% profit per game conservatively or $25 b/c EA must pay retailer fees, distrutor fees, sony/xbox license fees, etc) so that means they would have to sell an extra 2mm units. Also, not every game is sold at $50 cutting into the profit even more.

Hey but anything is better than actually trying to make a better game which you are seemingly uncapable of doing despite being by far the most profitable video game company.

[blackceasar]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Some of you guys are unbelievable. EA sets a release month sales record, and yet somehow this is a failure?

Well its a failure when business analysts who write for business mags and the Wall Street journal said this was a bad idea for EA. They said EA will not sell enough maddens to cover the money put up for the license..they projected they will fall way short at the end of the license deal. They even said that EA is expecting sales from thier non-madden titles to help with this but they said even then EA would have to have record years as a whole company, not just madden sales to break even...so yeah, the record month in terms recouping the money forked over for the deal is a failure.

Also, the first month the game comes out is always its strongest month. Dont expect another 2.5 million for sept, oct, november, dec. etc.

[grunt]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Some of you guys are unbelievable. EA sets a release month sales record, and yet somehow this is a failure?

Did you read my post? If EA sold 2.2 mil last August year and sold 300,000 more this Agust but with an added 50 mil plus cost. What would you call it.

[coogrfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by grunt

Did you read my post? If EA sold 2.2 mil last August year and sold 300,000 more this Agust but with an added 50 mil plus cost. What would you call it.

I would call that a typical Madden August, with the additional sales being roughly equal to the 2k series launch month sales in the years before the price drop. In other words, they seem to have scooped up a sizable percentage of the 2k fanbase as well. As SoMiss pointed out earlier in this thread, EA didn't have to make up the entire amount spent on the licensing deal this year.

Quote: Originally Posted by blackceasar

Well its a failure when business analysts who write for business mags and the Wall Street journal said this was a bad idea for EA. They said EA will not sell enough maddens to cover the money put up for the license..they projected they will fall way short at the end of the license deal. They even said that EA is expecting sales from thier non-madden titles to help with this but they said even then EA would have to have record years as a whole company, not just madden sales to break even...so yeah, the record month in terms recouping the money forked over for the deal is a failure. Also, the first month the game comes out is always its strongest month. Dont expect another 2.5 million for sept, oct, november, dec. etc.

There heve been some analysts who say EA made a mistake, but there have also been some who praised the move. The truth is that no one knows for certain how this will play out, but I think EA's "white shirts" have to be given the benefit of the doubt here. They didn't get to their position of dominance in the video game software industry by being stupid.

[Blahzie]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Some of you guys are unbelievable. EA sets a release month sales record, and yet somehow this is a failure?

What i think folks are getting at here is that the "release month sales record" thing is a little misleading.

If you're the type of person that cares whether EA makes money or not, or whose enjoyment of a game is based in large part on it's success on the shelves, then this stuff is for you (and me too, as i fall in the first camp):

1. EA may have sold 2.whatever million copies in its release month, but it hasn't done that with any competition. Oil companies are posting record profits right now, but since people either use their gas or walk to work, the reason they're selling so much gas is not because they've produced a superior product (as is the implication), but because people don't have a choice.

2. EA needed to release the game on more platforms and simultaneously (PC release not vastly delayed this year) to get these numbers. This was no accident. If they could have released the 360 version in August, they would have, believe me. Why? It's obvious: more platforms and more copies on the shelves means more people are apt to buy it for their freakin' n-gage or whatever, when they couldn't last year. (BTW, anyone hear of Madden 06 selling out anywhere? no? Didn't think so)

3. The sales figures for this year's month 1 are only marginally better than the figures for last year's month 1. So after all that blathering and positioning and backdoor dealing, they've really not much to show for it except a 50 million dollar bill in their mailbox.

So unless Madden really does well with the 360 release (and you people who think PS3 will be out in the states anytime before Christmas next year are dreaming), EA is going to lose a lot of money on Madden this year. I bet their thanking their lucky stars they've still got The Sims and Battlefied 2. Otherwise, they'd be up dookey creek. They already lost their shirt on that Battle for Middle Earth disaster. Live will probably do worse than last year. Doesn't look great for EA this year.

[coogrfan]

Guys, the football gaming market is finite, there are only so many people who are going to buy a football title. If you added up all the console football games sold each year by the various publishers for the last 4-5 years, you would get a figure that didn't change much from year to year. Last year would probably be an exception, the price drop for 2k5 meant that a lot more football titles were sold than previous years (but since a lot of those additional sales were to Madden gamers who decided to try 2k5, the total number of football gamers probably didn't change very much). To expect EA to increase launch sales by a million or more units is unrealistic, because the number of hardcore football gamers hasn't changed.

[Chitown1211]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Guys, the football gaming market is finite, there are only so many people who are going to buy a football title. If you added up all the console football games sold each year by the various publishers for the last 4-5 years, you would get a figure that didn't change much from year to year. Last year would probably be an exception, the price drop for 2k5 meant that a lot more football titles were sold than previous years (but since a lot of those additional sales were to Madden gamers who decided to try 2k5, the total number of football gamers probably didn't change very much). To expect EA to increase launch sales by a million or more units is unrealistic, because the number of hardcore football gamers hasn't changed.

Good lord man. Is EA sending you a monthly check ? I dont think so. Plain and simple. EA did not spend half a BILLION dollars in license fees to stay status quo in their number of sales. Your making no sense whatsoever. And frankly you look like the biggest EA fanboy on Earth in this thread. All your spin and justification your putting on this means nothing. Its all about the CASH. And EA did not spend half a BILLION of it to see sales slightly improve. No matter what your MADDEN filled head might want to believe.

MAybe just maybe. The 2K players arent converting the way EA thought they would. Of the over 50 2K ballers on my FL only 5 of them have played Madden. And Maybe just maybe lifelong Madden players are pizzed about the deal and are FINALLY pizzed about getting the same rehashed TRASH from EA and have stopped buying the garbage. But that couldnt be ? right? EA is the greatest game company ever right ? lol

[mvb34]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chitown1211

Good lord man. Is EA sending you a monthly check ? I dont think so. Plain and simple. EA did not spend half a BILLION dollars in license fees to stay status quo in their number of sales. Your making no sense whatsoever. And frankly you look like the biggest EA fanboy on Earth in this thread. All your spin and justification your putting on this means nothing. Its all about the CASH. And EA did not spend half a BILLION of it to see sales slightly improve. No matter what your MADDEN filled head might want to believe. MAybe just maybe. The 2K players arent converting the way EA thought they would. Of the over 50 2K ballers on my FL only 5 of them have played Madden. And Maybe just maybe lifelong Madden players are pizzed about the deal and are FINALLY pizzed about getting the same rehashed TRASH from EA and have stopped buying the garbage. But that couldnt be ? right? EA is the greatest game company ever right ? lol

Is VC sending you money to "Keep Hope Alive"?