Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

[ryan36]

Quote: Originally Posted by pietasterp

What immediately caught my eye was that the peak of the Madden sales was mid-decade....which is about 2004-2005. Remember that year? The last year we had more than 1 NFL game to choose from? Coincidence? Maybe....

You know there's marketing research that shows Quizno's business goes up when Subway advertises more. Maybe good competition just raises the overall consumer impression of football gaming

[dcsoldier]

haha NFL will most certainly not resign with madden after the 2012 season.......IMO if it wasn't for FIFA this year, which posted record sales across the board, EA would take the worst financial loss since its' beginning. its what happens when greed overtakes and money is more important than a quality product. NBA elite gone.......NFL madden soon to be gone.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryan36

You know there's marketing research that shows Quizno's business goes up when Subway advertises more. Maybe good competition just raises the overall consumer impression of football gaming

Yes, I think that's very likely. There is actually a good deal of market research showing similar correlations. Of course, that's not "proof" per se, but something to think about nonetheless...

My own personal take is that it's a combination of 2 different companies hyping the NFL = some synergistic effect, plus the two games make each other better. I mean, I don't think it's a coincidence that Madden 2005 is considered one of the best games in the franchise's history, and incidentally NFL2k5 is considered one of the best football games ever (by some). Gamers and sports fans aren't as dumb as they seem....even if they don't seem to be able to express it on a collective conscious level, they seem to know which games are capturing their fancy and which ones are stale and boring....

[ryan36]

Madden isn't going anywhere. The NFL doesn't care. People keep thinking the NFL cares...

They NFL only cares in 2 ways. 1: They may see Madden as a marketing tool, and hope for quality since it helps the NFL advertise, and 2: they want Madden to do well so that EA will renew their license.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by dcsoldier

haha NFL will most certainly not resign with madden after the 2012 season.......IMO if it wasn't for FIFA this year, which posted record sales across the board, EA would take the worst financial loss since its' beginning. its what happens when greed overtakes and money is more important than a quality product. NBA elite gone.......NFL madden soon to be gone.

I think the NFL most certainly WILL re-up that deal, for as long as EA cares to play ball...the NFL's cut, if I understand it correctly, doesn't really have anything to do with the sales numbers. In other words, I don't think that the NFL cares how many games EA sells, because EA pays them up-front for the licensing fees, so their cash is guaranteed. It's EA that needs to decide if the premium they pay to keep others from playing in the NFL sandbox continues to be worth it...

[dcsoldier]

Quote: Originally Posted by pietasterp

I think the NFL most certainly WILL re-up that deal, for as long as EA cares to play ball...the NFL's cut, if I understand it correctly, doesn't really have anything to do with the sales numbers. In other words, I don't think that the NFL cares how many games EA sells, because EA pays them up-front for the licensing fees, so their cash is guaranteed. It's EA that needs to decide if the premium they pay to keep others from playing in the NFL sandbox continues to be worth it...

this is where i disagree with most....EA purchased the license in hopes of getting the NFL 2k fans to jump ship and purchase madden.....thus resulting in better sales. this clearly hasn't been the case since madden sales have gone down since the time NFL license has been purchased. that being said, i think the recent visit by 2k to the NFL will result in a major twist come the end of 2012 season......result will be either both companies will have the NFL license or the company which can deliver a better NFL product.....which we all know what company that is.

[TDKing]

Maybe now they will really listen to the community instead of pretending too!
No more gimmicks, half truths, and mis-representations! We know more about want we want in the game EA than you do. Give the people want they want not what you think they want.

[Eski33]

The Madden series needs to look at what the NCAA team did. They brought in not only much improved graphics, but atmosphere.

I am a long time Madden fan and it still boggles my mind that they add a feature but instead of building on it they simply remove it. The Extra Point is something that could be outstanding. I thought that after Madden 10 we would have seen a huge presentation lift. Instead, we got Madden 10 with stripped down presentation....