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

[l3ulvl]

The thing that scares me is the thing that made me so excited to buy Madden 11 in the first place: Advertised early as almost exclusively focusing on gameplay, then making the gameplay worse. Now next year the attention is focused towards Franchise, so will they screw that up too?

Instead of making Franchise mode exciting, I have a feeling what they'll do is make it overly intricate and time consuming. Referencing CH2K8's incredible Legacy mode for a minute, the important thing to me is it's deep but doesn't necessarily take hours of excruciating tasks between games. Take recruiting, after establishing the players you want to target, your week to week time spent on recruiting is only a few minutes. Madden, meanwhile would probably include some strange fine-print contract gimmick, and add dumb side-modes like planning the pregame meal for the practice squad. No, make it addictive and yet somewhat simple.

[The Teacher]

I really wish this would lead to something other than typical debates. It would be nice to see the game take a turn for the better. However, I feel like it has really gone off the rails this year with how much it really seems to cater to a less hardcore audience.

Makes me miss Madden 2005

[Senator Palmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by rooney8

Chris you have Madden sales down 18% this year on the front page but they are not. It's just for October. Year over year means compared to the same period last year and this article is just about sales for October.

In the article, it said sales "year over year", not specifically the month of October. I thought that meant calendar year from one October to the next.

Quote:

Even with disappointments for NHL 11 and Medal of Honor, EA's software sales grew 17 percent year over year in October. EA Sports MMA sold 45,000 units, and the Madden NFL franchise is down 18 percent year over year.

[stlstudios189]

Look at Call of duty that is an adult only game and is selling millions on day one Making this game to simple will make sales go another 18 %

[PhillyJim76]

Greatest news and thread ever.

I bought 2k11, and I hate the NBA. However, it is such a good and complete game, that I barely touch Madden.

I love the NFL, watch Redzone when the Eagles aren't playing, watch all the national games. Madden sits in its case, because it is a horribly dull game for various reasons. Why bother playing that Franchise mode?

[rooney8]

Quote: Originally Posted by Senator Palmer

In the article, it said sales "year over year", not specifically the month of October.

Quote: Even with disappointments for NHL 11 and Medal of Honor, EA's software sales grew 17 percent year over year in October. EA Sports MMA sold 45,000 units, and the Madden NFL franchise is down 18 percent year over year.

Well to me this is clearly only for October but I seem to be on my own.

[Senator Palmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by rooney8

Well to me this is clearly only for October but I seem to be on my own.

I know the article is for October, but I thought the "year over year" was the key phrase that meant sales over the calendar year from October 2009 to October 2010.

But you might be right... which would add a whole other level of entertainment to this thread!

[metallidevils]

Sales are down in Madden and NHL because, although it can't be measured objectively, I don't believe that the games are $60 better than the previous year's version. I don't think it's the 'hardcore' fans that aren't buying the games, it's the casual fans who don't care as much about little tweaks and would rather see obvious improvements. I paid 60 bucks the year NHL series came out with the 'skill stick', which was a major addition, but then the next few years were just minor tweaks to it, and honestly seemed like $60 roster upgrades with a patch or two.