Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

[RaychelSnr]

Just received this press release from EA:

"REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Electronic Arts Inc., announced today that EA SPORTS Madden NFL 12 has sold through more than 1.4 million copies across all consoles in its first week at retail (Aug. 30 - Sept. 5), up 10 percent over last year’s opening week of sales. Based on internal estimates, digital gross revenue, driven largely by the Madden Ultimate Team mode, is up 78 percent over last year.

“Madden NFL 12 is off to a great start, and we’ve seen a tremendous amount of excitement and demand this first week,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of the home entertainment group at Best Buy. “Fans lined up at Best Buy stores around the country for midnight launch events to be the first to bring Madden NFL 12 home and get a jump on their rivals.”

Among the additional notable accomplishments for Madden NFL 12 in its first week at retail:

Madden NFL 12 fans have played more than 5.4 million online connected game sessions since launch; the equivalent of more than 10,000 regular NFL seasons.

Madden Ultimate Team has been a big hit, with fans having purchased nearly 200,000 Madden Ultimate Team card and coin packs in the first seven days.

EA SPORTS Season Ticket subscribers got a jump on the competition, with early full-game digital access to Madden NFL 12 beginning on August 26. Fans logged more than four million total gameplay minutes in the early access period.

Within its first week on the market, Madden NFL 12 reached the number one top paid spot on the Android market and ranked in the top 10 grossing on the App Store for iOS platforms.

“With the start of the NFL season only days away, fans are thrilled to get back to football and they’re doing so in record numbers through Madden NFL 12,” says Andrew Wilson, executive vice president of EA SPORTS. “The growth across console and digital shows that the appetite for the Madden NFL franchise has never been bigger.”

Seems Madden has seen a pretty solid rise in sales in week one, which is almost a harbinger of things to come. Despite critics being a bit more cool on the franchise this year, the franchise seems to continually add to sales. One thing I'm interested in is whether the rise in sales is really 10 percent on traditional consoles because it appears mobile sales are also counted.

Either way, sounds like another banner launch for the Madden franchise.

[noonan2112]

Disappointed to see this report. I fear that some people buy Madden every year just because they are robots. They should share a press release with us that shows how many Madden 12 copies were returned for re-sale after one week of disappointing gameplay.

[Nakeja71]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

I have the game and my $60 EA.

[JerseySuave4]

even though i thought i was going to buy this years game after not buying it last year i still haven't bought it yet. I don't really miss it and NCAA is ok enough to hold me over, i really don't feel like spending $120 on 2 mediocre football games.

[Jlhmoose81]

Still on the fence about purchasing because I havent played Madden since 2010. I might just backtrack and pick up The Show or Skate 3. Maybe I should just wait for NHL, FIFA, NBA 2K, and Battlefield.

[scoonie05]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

Good news....

[wheelman990]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

Largely for Madden Ultimate team??? I highly doubt that EA. Its because you worked on your gameplay, and I will admitt the graphics for the most part are really really good(some dome team fields on PS3 are aweful). JUST FIX THE ICE SKATING & SLIDING FOR MADDEN 13!

[Senator Palmer]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

Not ashamed to say I'm enjoying the game. It is a much better product out of the box than Madden 11, and the market seems to be reflecting that so far.

[Garrett67]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

Its because I had to buy 2 copies since the PS3 has issues. I went out and bought the 360 version too.

[DJ]

even though i thought i was going to buy this years game after not buying it last year i still haven't bought it yet. I don't really miss it and NCAA is ok enough to hold me over, i really don't feel like spending $120 on 2 mediocre football games.

Yeah, same here. I didn't want to trade one set of problems in for another.

The thing I don't like in the press release is the touting of people playing "online". That's very misleading as most gamers are still connected to PSN or XBL even though they are playing single-player modes.

[RGiles36]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

Not ashamed to say I'm enjoying the game. It is a much better product out of the box than Madden 11, and the market seems to be reflecting that so far.

Ditto.

Not only that, I think people have to look at the feature set. Gameplay, franchise, and presentation were all a major focus this year. If sales stunk in response, who's to say the direction they would take this franchise in.

I mean, yes, they are committed to getting this game to the level of NBA2K and The Show. But it would make me a bit nervous if sales stalled when they clearly focused on the things that I wanted as a sports gamer.

[JerseySuave4]

Ditto.

Not only that, I think people have to look at the feature set. Gameplay, franchise, and presentation were all a major focus this year. If sales stunk in response, who's to say the direction they would take this franchise in.

I mean, yes, they are committed to getting this game to the level of NBA2K and The Show. But it would make me a bit nervous if sales stalled when they clearly focused on the things that I wanted as a sports gamer.

Thats great that those things were the focus but after i played the demo i didn't think the gameplay was good enough for me to spend $60 on a game that probably would end up collecting dust. I don't know if i can go back to Madden until the engine changes on the next generation of systems because the gameplay continues to feel stale and boring.

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 12 Sales Rise 10% in Week One Over Last Year

Thats great that those things were the focus but after i played the demo i didn't think the gameplay was good enough for me to spend $60 on a game that probably would end up collecting dust. I don't know if i can go back to Madden until the engine changes on the next generation of systems because the gameplay continues to feel stale and boring.

Probably a good thing on your part, but this is the first Madden in awhile that I'm having fun with.

Does it need improvements? Absolutely.

Last year, I gave up playing Madden in December. That's early for me.

[KOYO78]

This is probably the dumbest statement Ppl say all the time " l bought NCAA 12 " but I'm not buying Madden. Do u ppl realize u are paying the same company F'ing idiots. Play Madden if it's ur thing quit the hating!!!! Not buying madden ain't solving anything, the only way u will see competition is for another company to pony up cash to the NFL, so please go somewhere else with the I hate EA but I'm here still making comments onMadden articles u ain't fooling no one y'all still will pay EA either Madden or NCAA u are still paying

[KOYO78]

U hv to give Madden 12 it's props the game is hella fun probably best football gaming experience since the PS2 days