Madden NFL 25 News Post

Madden Sales Down Significantly This Year

11:33 AM - September 6, 2013 by RaychelSnr

It appears, on the surface at least, fans are no longer happy with the Madden status quo.

EA Sports reported sales of just over 1 million copies of Madden in its first week on store shelves. While EA was touting the success of Madden NFL 25, those sales numbers are down significantly from last year's number of 1.65 million in the same time span, a nearly 40% drop in sales.

The obvious culprit does seem to be many gamers are holding out for next-gen Madden, which makes a lot of sense. However, with incentive programs to upgrade to the next-gen game around and being touted by EA, it also does seem a large chunk of consumers simply are tired of Madden's current form and waiting for something new.

This puts even more pressure on the next-gen product to deliver a new and unique experience to the series, as fans are likely looking for that with the new game. However, for a year at least, it is likely the next-gen version of Madden will be a huge seller when the new consoles hit store shelves in mid to late November.

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Member Comments

# 81 cepwin @ 09/07/13 11:59 AM

I've actually been enjoying the game despite it's imperfections. However I strongly agree with buckeyedawgtribe that it would be great if 2K got back in the game. Their NBA games have been very well received and look amazing so I'd love to see what they would do if the NFL ended this "exclusivity" and allowed the other companies to license and create NFL games. 2K has the background to do this. It would also push the Madden team to do better as they have to make a game at least as good or better than what 2K comes up with.

As for the down sales, I do think it's a combination of mixed reviews and waiting to get the next gen version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckeyedawgtribe


	Would love to see 2K get back in the game. Madden 25 could be a good game if I didnt feel so underpowered on defense. Presentation is still bad. Owner mode is addicting. I just hope they dont give up on this game and not release some patches to fix the issues. I have no plans to get a next gen system until the spring and by then I wont be playing Madden.

# 82 252Life @ 09/07/13 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mestevo


	What are you being exactly because anyone paying attention to next gen would gladly take you up on that. Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

I hope i'm wrong but I won't get my hopes up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceman87GT


	They learned from their mistakes on the current gen in this department. It won't be bare-bones, doesn't mean the game will be good but it will at least be full-featured. Cost a lot of money to get all that stuff together, its gonna have to be a 2 year process, I think 2K will make a run at it but the lawsuit (putting an end to exclusive licensing for EA) was settled last year and the fact that they haven't started the process now means it won't be any time soon. Also 989 Sports hasn't made game since 2006, it was absorbed into SCEA San Diego, there's no way they take focus away from the Show to start what could be a failure. What amazes me is how many people are automatically attributing this to consumers finally having enough with the product... Really? They've been buying it for years, regardless of quality (and fyi the general public doesn't have as many negative things to say about various sports franchises as the visitors to this site do,), and now that sales are down with the Next Generation of consoles set to debut in 2 months and 13 days your gonna ignore that fact and come to the conclusion that they are finally going to come to their sense? Sales are down because of the Next Gen anticipation, that's a fact. The only question is how much of that is purely because they are waiting for Next Gen and how much is because they heard bad things about the game and aren't bothering with the current gen in the meantime. Yes there are some who have sworn off the series entirely, but they are the minority. 650,000 people haven't quit the series, there are a lot of reasons to look forward to Madden on the Next Gen and this is influencing people's purchase decision. And its important to note that 1M in the first week is still extremely good, just down from recent years, this isn't going to hurt EA's bottom-line and it is easily explainable to shareholders that its due to the Next Gen. You're fooling yourselves if you think this is going to hurt EA, cause the NFL to pull their rights (no one is there to take over, and its no longer legal to grab exclusive rights, the NFL would literally be losing a video game deal for the year if they "rethought their partnership with EA). EA is going to keep making Madden, hopefully someone will step in and create some competition, because even if M25 on the XB1 and PS4 is everything we have been hoping for, it is always better for their to be great incentive to improve upon the last iteration. Without competition things become stagnant, even if they are working to bring you the best game possible (see MLB the Show, still a fantastic game but its review scores are dropping by the year, its hard to improve on perfection, especially when their is no legitimate competition trying to one-up your perfect game).

Agree with everything. 989 sports was a joke by the way.

# 83 roadman @ 09/07/13 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuchToLearn


	all i can say to anyone wishing/hoping/praying that ps4/next-gen madden 25 will be better than this madden 25 is.. the hell are you on?! it's almost guaranteed to be the same game with a bit better gfx.. we all remember the debacle of 360/ps3 first edition maddens when they ditched their old sim roots and went strictly arcadeish it'll be like that first-edition games for new consoles generally speaking aren't that good

And they've been working on it for a few years, too. You don't think they recall 06?

# 84 BigJT1083 @ 09/07/13 12:34 PM

Keep it up and don't buy into the hype that it will be better on next-gen, we know that is NOT true! Want EA Sports to actually listen to you? Hurt them in the only area they care about, sales. I've been getting my football fix by playing NCAA 06 and Madden 06 in the last few weeks and it is crazy how much more fun I have with it than I ever had with any of the 360 versions. The graphics are no where near as good, but you can actually play a working game and immerse yourself in the dynasty/franchise and race for the heisman/superstar modes. Much rather pay $60 to play these old gems again than waste my money on the new crap they try to sell us (which most of it was already used at some point).

# 85 kjcheezhead @ 09/07/13 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	Not surprised. A few reasons for it... 1. The game isn't great. In many ways, particularly the defense, the game went backwards from 13 which itself was a buggy mess introducing IE and CCM. 2. Next gen is coming and people want a different experience after only playing current gen madden for several years now. 3. The exclusive license is still set to end after this year, people wanting it to end have more insentive to skip this year. 4. A lot of reviews have been scoring the game low. Gamespot gave it a six. 5. GTA V. Personally, I love the timing. With the exclusive agreement set to expire, EA is settling and paying out $11 million to Robin Antonick and $27 million to gamers from the class action suit. The game already costs them $2 million to John Madden and $50 million to the NFL. Not to mention the Obannon, NCAA situation. Maybe, just maybe there is hope for new NFL video games in the future. Source and interesting read: http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/05/tech...source=cnn_bin

One other factor that occurred to me. There is a fair number of madden fans that buy the game in 2 year cycles. With 13 introducing physics I think a lot of these guys made a purchase in a year they usually don't.

It sort makes sense when you look at both games sales. Madden 13 had a big spike in sales compared to every other version this gen. Maybe things just balanced out this year.

At any rate, there are several potential reasons for a decline in sales, and none I can think of for EA to have expected increased sales. I know quality was the main reason for me personally tho.

# 86 bkrich83 @ 09/07/13 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Afrikan


	Would love to see a next gen version of this

Why? That game was an AWFUL representation of football, which actually got worse with a patch.

I'd love to see more and better games of football on the market, but Backbreaker was certainly not an example of one. It was a ridiculously bad game, that couldn't get the most basic of football principles down. Nothing more than an over the top tech demo.

# 87 bkrich83 @ 09/07/13 01:10 PM

My biggest fear with a decline in Madden sales is that EA makes the game even more accesible to casual fans, and cater to the lowest common denominator.

I think the unfortunate reality is a large majority of Madden gamers don't want an exact replication of the NFL. I think we even see that here. We see people who clamor for more sim and more "realism" and on the odd occasions EA delivers that realism, those people still complain.

# 88 JohnDoe8865 @ 09/07/13 01:28 PM

I'm personally taking a wait and see approach on next-generation consoles. I'm strongly leaning towards PS4 after being XBOX/XBOX 360 since 2002. The difference maker for me is baseball. I NEED a solid baseball game, and MLB: The Show is a game I've salivated over as a 360 owner for years. I don't know for sure which console I'll get but either way I'm doing what is, IMO, the smart thing and waiting until after Christmas to get console impression and game impressions and THEN make my decision. If M25 next-gen is an improvement over current gen, I will likely buy it being an NFL fan first and foremost. Same goes with NBA 2K14 and their stellar reputation, I have reason to believe that next-gen NBA 2K might be special. Past that, I'm in wait and see mode.

In the meantime I'm satisfied with getting games for my 360 such as GTA V and WWE '14. After those two game, I'll definitely turn my focus to next-gen, unless a sleeper hit comes to current gen. Going to take a wait and see approach for this generation, the same way I did for the 360.

# 89 TeeDogg @ 09/07/13 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkrich83


	Why? That game was an AWFUL representation of football, which actually got worse with a patch. I'd love to see more and better games of football on the market, but Backbreaker was certainly not an example of one. It was ridiculously bad, that couldn't get the most basic of football principles down. Nothing more than an over the top tech demo.

a tech demo sums it up best

# 90 Eddie1967 @ 09/07/13 02:16 PM

I am having fun with this year's version but this is great news. The folks at EA have been putting out a less than mediocre product for the last couple of years and hopefully this will show the NFL that it much better to have multiple football games to represent their sport rather than one. This years version of madden football should have been the best of everything, presentation, gameplay etc. etc. While it has improved it is still behind games that were on the last version of xbox.

# 91 infemous @ 09/07/13 02:40 PM

I hope sales continue to plummet and forces the NFL to realise that EA are not representing their brand sufficiently, and open up the license to competition.

Until this happens, I hope that EA see this as an incentive to finally start making a simulation game, much like the FIFA brand.

At the end of the day, the logic is inescapable. People buy officially licensed sports games to recreate what they see and feel from that sport.

As soon as they start to feel that what they are playing does not accurately represent what they see on the field, they lose interest.

This is the same for every spectrum of sports gamer, from SIM to Arcade to everything in between.

$60 is a lot of money that people cannot afford to spend every year on a poor product.

# 92 simbayless @ 09/07/13 02:54 PM

Call of duty tried the same rinse and repeat concept. look what happen when compitition came thru and took half if not most of next gen pre orders.The next Call of duty has no choice but to bring it next tme.My biggest concern Is Ea not showing more footage of next gen madden intill Oct if so,thats a big white flag letting me know there is no confidents this year.NBA Live is a perfect example of that,you mean to tell me that you been out the game for 3 years and you gonna wait till your number one selling competitor show its hand first?They don't mind showing next gen fifa.Marketng the hype train is not gonna cut it next gen and no more 3yr plans.Im gonna wait for impressions on here and reviews just like I did current gen im glad I did whew

# 93 bkrich83 @ 09/07/13 03:13 PM

Why do so many people hate carriage returns/formatting their posts?

# 94 friscob @ 09/07/13 05:28 PM

It's funny seeing brand new sealed copies of this game not being bid on when priced at $40 and free shipping on ebay. Demand just doesn't seem to be there and I'm starting to feel like a sucker for not waiting to pick it up later on

# 95 SmashMan @ 09/07/13 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Afrikan


	and of course Mestevo tags along..lol.

We can call people out for liking posts now?

I do like that the .gif you posted of Backbreaker shows the safety backing away from a ball he could have made a play on. I assume you were trying to show off the physics and/or passing mechanics, though; so we'll ignore that part.

# 96 kehlis @ 09/07/13 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmashMan


	We can call people out for liking posts now?

No we can not.

# 97 SageInfinite @ 09/07/13 06:46 PM

Got Madden 25 as a gift strictly for the season ticket. Other than that I wasn't buying it with next gen coming. I do think the sales will increase with the holidays though. Some people just feel it's not worth getting the game in August at launch. I do think it's pretty bad to have the sales down with you're "special" 25th edition of a legendary series like Madden. The suits can't be happy as of now.

With that said I'm excited to see next gen, even though I thought the demo previewed on IGN with Cam Weber looked EXACTLY like current gen. Hey it was pre alpha though so I'm hoping things get better. I just hope this doesn't shift the focus on sim next year. Honestly I just feel like Tiburon has a lazy approach to development. Either that or the code is so bad they don't want to touch too much to break the game even more. Maybe they just don't have the talent. Either way next gen will be telling.

# 98 Iceman87GT @ 09/07/13 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDoe8865


	I'm personally taking a wait and see approach on next-generation consoles. I'm strongly leaning towards PS4 after being XBOX/XBOX 360 since 2002. The difference maker for me is baseball. I NEED a solid baseball game, and MLB: The Show is a game I've salivated over as a 360 owner for years. I don't know for sure which console I'll get but either way I'm doing what is, IMO, the smart thing and waiting until after Christmas to get console impression and game impressions and THEN make my decision. If M25 next-gen is an improvement over current gen, I will likely buy it being an NFL fan first and foremost. Same goes with NBA 2K14 and their stellar reputation, I have reason to believe that next-gen NBA 2K might be special. Past that, I'm in wait and see mode. In the meantime I'm satisfied with getting games for my 360 such as GTA V and WWE '14. After those two game, I'll definitely turn my focus to next-gen, unless a sleeper hit comes to current gen. Going to take a wait and see approach for this generation, the same way I did for the 360.

If you want a great baseball experience then the PS4 is the way to go, EA doesn't appear to be working on a title to compete on next gen and unless 2K makes significant jumps to next-gen (if they even make a next-gen game), then MLB the Show will be the only game in town.

I got a PS3 this past January and was planning on going with the XB1 at first but now I'm all in for the PS4 (their exclusive licenses are fantastic, and of course there is the Show). I don't think you will miss the Xbox if you make the switch, I haven't (I still play my 360 and plan on eventually buying an Xbox One).

Quote:

Originally Posted by infemous


	I hope sales continue to plummet and forces the NFL to realise that EA are not representing their brand sufficiently, and open up the license to competition. Until this happens, I hope that EA see this as an incentive to finally start making a simulation game, much like the FIFA brand. At the end of the day, the logic is inescapable. People buy officially licensed sports games to recreate what they see and feel from that sport. As soon as they start to feel that what they are playing does not accurately represent what they see on the field, they lose interest. This is the same for every spectrum of sports gamer, from SIM to Arcade to everything in between. $60 is a lot of money that people cannot afford to spend every year on a poor product.

This is the last year of exclusivity! EA legally can't renew it, we don't need poor sales in order for another company to step in, we just need another company to step in period.

# 99 kehlis @ 09/07/13 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceman87GT


	This is the last year of exclusivity! EA legally can't renew it, we don't need poor sales in order for another company to step in, we just need another company to step in period.

That's not true. It could have been renewed legally, EA or the NFL just decided not to as of now.

# 100 kjcheezhead @ 09/07/13 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkrich83


	Why? That game was an AWFUL representation of football, which actually got worse with a patch. I'd love to see more and better games of football on the market, but Backbreaker was certainly not an example of one. It was a ridiculously bad game, that couldn't get the most basic of football principles down. Nothing more than an over the top tech demo.

It was the first attempt. Apparently you have forgotten madden 06-09 with more resources, a bigger team and almost 20 years of football developing experience.

The physics were solid, decent player interactions and a nice concept to the passing game. It wasn't good, but there was potential to work with. A couple more years of development and the nfl license and it would've been a decent franchise. Not toppling madden in sales, but a profitable alternative.

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