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

[dcsoldier]

I thinks it's great news for gamers period; providing that EA is willing to spend the money necessary to build Madden from the ground up. If they do, that will benefit all gamers because the quality will be superior to what we have now.

The license fee is what hinders Madden's development. It's so expensive that the suits aren't willing to increase the budget for development. Maybe now, they realize that they have to.

Who knows if we'll see any significant changes; historically we haven't, but with sales dropping as they are, EA may feel the need for an overhaul.

Even if Madden 12 isn't a significant change, the fact that Madden's sales are down 50% from five years ago means they're less likely to renew the license when it expires.

good point.....i personally would be shocked if they renewed the NFL exclusive license.......nothing went according to plan when they originally signed with NFL for some 300 million....as you can see sales are down and people still talk about 2k. madden just made a mistake and now they have to live with it. greed never wins.

[LiquorLogic]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% from last year

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

Or maybe companies make better games because people have a choice.

[grismosw]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y from last year

and where are they exactly? half the people that buy madden hate it and the other half buys it cause its NFL.

i just got done playing apf2k8 and during a cut scene in the background there was a cop standing by the stands......amazing DETAIL! this game came out 4 years ago, and never used crappy gimmicks to suck people into buying the game....4 years later and im still enjoying the game..........i don't even think if i combine all of the maddens would it equal 4 years.

That's my point.

[kjcheezhead]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y from last year

I hope this news strikes home with the NFL more than anyone else. Madden 11 gets an 8.6 rating average by review sites and only 6.9 by gamers. That suggests to me that gamers are just bored and frustrated by a series that fundamentally is seen as a solid title by gaming sites. Add to that, NBA 2k11's success and the NFL needs to be concerned.

The fans are turning their backs on the NFL video game this year and can't get enough of the NBA product. It's time the NFL recognizes this as a potenital problem and gives their fans more football options to choose from.

[rooney8]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% from last year

Also on your John Riccitiello point, I'd like to know how he's surviving with EA's stock flat since the 08 crash while everyone else has seen at least modest stock gains. That's as much an indictment on Riccitiello as anything else. But don't forget that total sales were up 17% for EA in October, so the company as a whole isn't doing too bad.

That's down to more titles being released like Medal of Honor compared to last year. Madden, NHL and MMA not doing well is bad but when Fifa and NBA2k are doing better than ever there aren't many excuses for Riccitiello to hide behind. Him and Peter Moore are very target the casual gamer so I will be glad to see him go and hopefully Moore too.

[Palo20]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y from last year

I've enjoyed Madden the past couple years, but I really hated their "Simpler, Quicker, Deeper" slogan this year. I completely understand the need to cater to new users, and they absolutely should have modes that appeal to them. I love gameflow when gameplans are created. BUT, for the new users, advertising that the game is simpler just doesn't work. When they pick up and try the game, make sure it's simpler. But basing so much of your advertising on being quick and simple was just a huge mistake IMO.

[JWO35]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y from last year

No surprised, if anything Madden over the last few years have took steps back...after seeing other companies like 2k making huge leaps in games year-from-year, hopefully either EA or NFL decides to do something about it
EA by actually changes somethings like their Franchise Mode(circa 2007)
or the NFL by ending the license between EA to make exclusive NFL games, and open the door for other companies such as 2k/

Hopefully its the NFL

[RGiles36]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% from last year

Man these are sentiments to a tee...I have been preaching for years that sports gamers want immersion more than anything..we want to feel like we are at the game ,playing the game, or watching it on tv..all those elements can be improved presentation wise including multiple camera angles, ridiculous crowd noise and to include all the little nuances that go on in a nfl telecast and nfl stadium..from pregame warmups to real commentary ...etc..Ea is also lacking in the basic nuances of the game of football that hold it back..including things like real penalties that are more than clipping or holding, signature running styles..signature and varied catching styles and animations.. player personalities..pre snap movement..individual team tendencies and realistic play...and creatioing a sim that truly is a chessmatch on the field not who has the fastest players...Ea created this by resting on its laurels and like i have sted before if someone can point out the major differences or improvements between madden 10 and 11 I would love to listen...Sim is the way to go and leave the arcade version to blitz or whatever..etc..follow NBA2K11's lead include everything thing that goes on in a game and madden will be a succcess...remeber 2k11 isnt perfect gameplay wise by any means but the immersion factor, attentio to detail, and presentation makes everyone overlook that fact!!!

Agreed with the bolded. Granted, they have some of that already in the game, but it's not nailed. That's what feeds the theory that EA/Tib is not sharp with the details.

[dcsoldier]

lets look at the gimmicks please......

pro tak, locomotion, gameflow..........3 years worth of production and thats what we get. you don't need pro tak you just need consecutive hit animations. locomotion is highly overrated IMO, pro tak doesn't work and gameflow is "ask madden" with a different name.

put all this together and you have a company that makes a fool out of the consumer. no wonder that everyone is turning their back on madden.

[RumbleCard]

I didn't buy it this year. Played NCAA like others here did and yeah its a great game but I grew bored with it pretty quick...month and half at best. Couldn't justify buying a game that is basically the same or worse.

"reaching a broader market" makes no sense. Echoing the sediments in this thread I think more sim over accessibility is the obvious approach. This isn't a one off title. Its reoccurs year after year. The only people who buy games systematically like that are the ones who want to be immersed in a game. As close to being as realistic as possible.

If this were a one time game I think finding ways to mass market makes more sense. They need to concentrate on bringing back their niche (albeit large) market that has grown bored and complacent with the game.

[roadman]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y from last year

They need to retool and step up their game.

[TreFacTor]

The "telemetry" is giving Ian and co. the information needed to make changes in Madden, and that's the sad part. The game hasn't progressed the way many of the faithful would wish, and with an annual release schedule, this will not change in the foreseeable future. They simply don't have enough time between releases to make marked improvements to the game. The engine can't be scrapped tomorrow. I predict that EA will ride the bull until it collapses and then it will make changes. It's clear that EA doesn't listen to the fans, but rather to marketing who in turn tells them that they need to cater to the more casual gamer but that simply means that there is a compromise and the game suffers in performance because of it. It can not be both as complicated and complex as the actual game while at the same time being pick up an play friendly.

There are people that play chess, and then there are people that play checkers.... madden attempts to be both.

[Nunyerbiz]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y from last year

I don't know if it really has much to do with "sim roots" .. I don't even know what the heck that means and I've been playing Madden somewhat regularly since the first PC version in 1989. It's not like Madden is suddenly NFL Blitz. They just didn't make a very good foundation out of the gate for this current gen and have built on this shaky foundation for 3 years running. People realize this and stop buying. It's not anymore complicated than that.

NBA2K11 is selling like hotcakes right now because they truly made a leap forward. The early adopters confirmed the hype from the game review sites that never give a major sports title anything less than 8 out of 10 anyhow... word of mouth spread... and everybody realizes this isn't a case of "good but not great" games like NBA2K9 and 2K10... There was a major leap forward...

That is what Madden needs. It has nothing to do with catering to sim versus casual versus tourney players. They just need to make a game that is better... and by better I mean across the board for everyone. They need to make that major leap... come up with the good foundation they have been missing and then everything else works itself out in the wash.

[l3ulvl]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y from last year

There are people that play chess, and then there are people that play checkers.... madden attempts to be both.

This really is a great line.

[d3fcon]

I'm not surprised.... Since only EA can make/publish NFL games there is NO competition which means less need to be innovative. Instead of making a great game year after year, they can make a mediocre one and throw in some menu changes and a few tweaks here and there and they "have a new game". I mean how long did it take for them to realize players weren't able to catch balls going to the sidelines? A fix for it costs 49.99 (Madden 11)