Weak Madden Sales Signaling Trouble for Game Industry

[RaychelSnr]

CNBC has the story on Madden's weak sales numbers and it's impact on the industry as a whole. Sounds like a blog coming from yours truly soon.

Quote:

Just one week after its flagship franchise hit the streets, EA is already seeing retailers dramatically discount this year’s installment of “Madden NFL”. Amazon, Wal Mart, and GameStop have all dropped the price from $60 to $50. One possible way to interpret that is the 2010 version of the game hasn’t been selling at the same pace as the 2009 version (which, incidentally, failed to match the 2008 numbers). That’s troubling, since EA relies heavily on Madden for up to 10 percent of its annual revenues. Admittedly, there were concerns about this year’s game prior to its launch. Pre-orders were flat and Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, noted that the 2010 installment was “a ‘show-me’ story … People who are tired of what ‘Madden’ has become are saying ‘I know some of my fiends are going to pick it up and I’ll see what they have to say first.'”

[crumpled_heap]

maybe ea will realize that we don't want a quicker simpler game, what we want is better line interaction and multi hit tackles

[Dog]

maybe this will get them to stop catering to newer madden players because it doesnt look like its working

[tommyboii2008]

WhooaH!! didnt see that coming.. Nah I'm just playin I saw it coming.. Maybe EA (Sports) will get the message and work harder on their "flagship franchise." I think NHL might be their best game now..

[DaReapa]

Hopefully this will motivate them to innovate the franchise, being the exclusive holder of the NFL license.

[CYST2000]

I don't think EA will do anything differently. Ian asked them for a new engine when he first started and he was declined. As long as they can put in less money and get a ton out they won't make the game any better.

[markprior22]

This is the first year I wasn't even the least bit tempted to buy Madden. I am an offline franchise player and the franchise mode is going to need quite an upgrade to pull me back in.

[swaldo]

Can't blame it on the poor economy - The metacritic user score (5.4) says it all. OUCH!