Madden NFL 25 sales cross 1 million units

Madden NFL 25 sold more than 1 million units during its first week at retail and was the top-selling game of August overall in North America, Electronic Arts has announced.

Gamers have played nearly 6 million hours of Madden NFL 25 since launch. A Seahawks vs. 49ers matchup was three times more popular than any other contest during the first week, EA said.

Madden NFL 25's Ultimate Team has gotten off to a quick start, EA said, noting players have opened more than 3.3 million packs, the most in any single week since Ultimate Team was introduced in Madden NFL 10.

In addition, Saturday, August 28, marked the highest day for net revenue in Madden Ultimate Team history, EA said.

Madden NFL 25's sales of 1 million units is down from 1.65 million for last year's Madden NFL 13, but the full picture won't come into focus until later. The game will be released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as launch titles for the next-generation platforms in November.

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said first-week sales of Madden NFL 25, though down year-over-year, are in line with the company's guidance. He noted that the $10 upgrade offer from current- to next-generation versions of the game will also boost sales.

"In any case, we think the true picture of EA's overall sports business this year won't emerge until the arrival of the next-gen version of its games this holiday," Bhatia said.

Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian echoed Bhatia's comments, saying the "softness" in sales of Madden NFL 25 reflects the nature of the console transition.