I think we all saw this coming. Proving the success that the Madden franchise is capable of, Madden NFL 25 has been out for a little over a week now, and in the game's first week of release, has managed to sell over a million copies according to a recent press release EA put out.
By the publisher's reckoning, that would make it the highest selling game in North America in August. Here's some other interesting factoids from the release:
- fans played nearly 6 million hours of Madden NFL 25 in Week One, the equivalent of more than 600 consecutive years.
- fans chose Seahawks vs. 49ers, three times more than any other matchup.
- over 3.3 million packs were opened, the most in any single week since Ultimate Team was introduced in Madden NFL 10.
"The strong start for Madden NFL 25 on current generation consoles is a testament to the power of this amazing franchise and its fans," said Andrew Wilson, Executive Vice President of EA Sports. "It's a big year for our fans as we launch Madden NFL 25 for two different hardware generations, and we're pleased with the early results for the Xbox 360 and PS3. We're confident we can sustain this momentum as we move towards the launch of next generation consoles this Fall with the most innovative Madden NFL yet."
Sure to catapult the game's sales even higher are the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game, which will be available when the consoles launch this November. I'm sure there are some holdouts that are waiting to play the latest Madden title in all the next-gen glory the systems can provide. For those that have already bought the game, and still plan on getting a PS4 or Xbox One, they'll be able to upgrade Madden 25 to the new system for $10. The upgrade will also net them six extra All-Pro card packs in the game's Ultimate Team mode, as well as transfer teams to the new system.
GameStop, WalMart, and Amazon all reported a record number of pre-sales and people in stores for the game's launch late last month. Given the numbers for week one, and with Christmas and Black Friday around the corner, expect the sales numbers to rise with ease over the next few months.
