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Madden misses Drafting 101 with 6% of NFL picks
Our grand experiment with Madden NFL 25 this week, in which we simulated the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft using Electronic Arts' popular football game, ended as the NFL finished round one last night. In all, EA's Madden 25 only managed to place two athletes on their correct teams: Cornerback Justin Gilbert with the Cleveland Browns [#8] and defensive tackle Aaron Donald with the St. Louis Rams [#13], making for a lackluster success rate of six percent. Good job, good effort, Madden! The game did manage to place players of correct relative positions with five teams in the first round, as Minnesota drafted a quarterback, San Francisco took a defensive back and Pittsburgh selected a linebacker last night as well. Yet EA's Madden 25 wasn't able to account for the eight trades that took place last night, in which Cleveland traded back from the fourth pick to the eighth spot, which is where they chose Gilbert, later selecting quarterback Johnny Manziel [#22].
EA's Ultimate Team card sales grew 60% in the last year
Sales for EA's Ultimate Team modes in FIFA, Madden and NHL grew 60 percent year-over-year on a non-GAAP basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), the publisher noted in its 2014 financial earnings report. Additionally, EA said its Ultimate Team services "generated more than $380 million" in fiscal 2014, and that Madden Ultimate Team alone saw a 90 percent year-over-year growth. First debuting for NCAA Football 14 and NBA Live 14 last year, Ultimate Team is a trading card-collecting game mode that's driven EA's digital revenue for a number of years in its other sports games, such as Madden NFL and FIFA. FIFA's digital revenue alone topped $145 million in the first half of the fiscal year, as the publisher revealed in late October. EA reported its fiscal 2014 earnings today, showing a net revenue of $1.12 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, down from $1.21 billion during the fourth quarter last year. [Image: EA Sports]
College football settlement costs EA another $8 million
When EA settled its ongoing litigation with student athletes in September 2013 related to its NCAA Basketball and Football video games, its expenses amounted to $40 million. Now, it is tacking on $8 million more in expected expenses for fiscal 2014, bringing the total to $48 million, according to the company's year-end financial results. EA reported $40 million in settlement expenses as recently as the last fiscal quarter, ending in December. The publisher canceled its 2014 college football video game in September, following the NCAA's decision to not renew its licensing agreement with EA in July. The settlement by EA and the Collegiate Licensing Company led to another lawsuit in November, this one by the NCAA against EA. EA planned to continue working with the CLC to develop college sports games without the use of the NCAA's marks and logos, a non-exclusive agreement that was slated to last three years. The college athlete likeness lawsuits stem back to May 2009. [Image: EA]
NHL 15 skating to PS4, Xbox One this fall
Now that the NHL playoffs are in full swing, EA decided it's the perfect time to offer the first details for its next hockey game, NHL 15. As the first game in the series to grace Xbox One and PS4 this fall, much of its features focus on its visuals and physics. For starters, next-gen versions of the game will feature "12 player NHL collision physics" as well as rebuilt puck physics, the former governing all actions by every player on the ice (like when they slam into each other) with "real-world physics."
Become the Ultimate Fighter in EA Sports UFC's career mode
EA dished out some details today on EA Sports UFC's career mode, which will drop created fighters into the game's version of the UFC's popular reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). Participating in the TUF tournament lands players on a team coached by a real-life fighter, training and battling to earn evolution and experience points to boost their combatant's physical skills and unlock special abilities. The game's career mode also features popularity and longevity gauges, the former impacting the attention players receive from sponsors and other fighters, who send players video messages in the game. So long as championship hopefuls fight smart and don't take too many hard hits in their careers, their longevity meter will stay steady enough to grant them lengthy stays in the UFC. EA Sports UFC will enter the octagon on June 17 for Xbox One and PS4 and includes Bruce Lee as an unlockable fighter. [Image: EA Sports]
Madden NFL 15 hitting current and next-gen turf August 26
The next game in EA Sports' treasured football series, Madden NFL 15, will launch August 26 in North America and August 29 in Europe, the publisher announced today. The game will arrive simultaneously for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Madden 15 will include "an entirely new broadcast presentation that delivers Madden NFL game day like never before with dramatic all-new camera angles, as well as dynamic pre-game and halftime features," according to the announcement. EA will begin a cover athlete vote on May 8, starting with a special announcement at the NFL Draft. The accompanying release date trailer features Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, who may be a popular choice for voters as he's the reigning NFL defensive player of the year. [Image: EA Sports]
Elder Scrolls debuts second in UK, FIFA 14 reclaims the throne
It's not a No. 1, but Bethesda may be quietly satisfied with how The Elder Scrolls Online fared in the UK. The MMO's launch on Windows PC and Mac was enough to take it up to second place, and there are still PS4 and Xbox One versions to unravel in June. As it is, we may have to get used to the name currently on top of the UK charts. FIFA 14 is now up to 11 weeks in total (non-consecutive) as the country's No. 1, and - as if it needed the help - the English soccer season is excitingly close this year, and there's a World Cup just two months away. In related news, let's go live to the scene at EA Sports HQ... [Image: Bethesda]
EA CEO: Publisher may skip a year between future UFC games
Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson recently contemplated a bi-annual release schedule for future MMA games that follow EA Sports UFC, which is slated to launch on Xbox One and PS4 this year. In an interview with CNN's Fortune Tech, Wilson described the frequency of some games and the "appetite" players have for them, noting that the UFC brand "feels like it's in that every-other-year mix" without committing to that release schedule as a guaranteed development plan. "We get a new GTA game every four or five years, but there is an immense appetite. What we're looking at right now is how long is it going to take us to build a truly innovative game in that genre, and when do we think gamers are going to be ready for that next one," Wilson said. EA announced the acquisition of the UFC license at E3 2012 following the demise of THQ, which published three UFC games. THQ's crack at the series began with annual releases in UFC 2009: Undisputed and UFC Undisputed 2010 prior to a two-year absence in the series. THQ's final game, UFC Undisputed 3, reportedly failed to "break even" at two million units sold as of June 2012. "Do I think that UFC would be an every year game? I don't know," Wilson said. "It feels like it's in that every-other-year mix, but in all honesty we haven't made that decision yet. That really comes down to how long it's going to take to make a great game and when do we think the audience is ready." EA Canada's Fight Night team is behind EA Sports UFC's development, led by creative director and Fight Night Round 4 and Fight Night Champion gameplay designer Brian Hayes. Wilson previously noted that the Fight Night series is "on hold" while the developer works on EA Sports UFC. [Image: EA Sports]
EA Sports UFC trailer gets knocked down, but it gets up again
One of the lacking aspects of previous mixed martial arts games like THQ's UFC 3 is the true sense of physical contact between the fighters on screen. EA Sports UFC will attempt to close that gap on next-gen consoles, if the game's latest trailer is any indicator. Creative Director Brian Hayes discusses the interaction between fighters and their surroundings in the gameplay trailer, putting skin-rippling kicks and arm-wrenching submissions on display. It also shows the effects of a "full-body deformation system" in which "flesh displaces flesh," which sounds pretty gross the more we think about it. EA Sports UFC will launch sometime this year for Xbox One and PS4. [Image: EA Sports]
2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil trailer is proud to be from (nation of origin)
This gameplay trailer for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil bleeds red, blue, green, white, orange, yellow and potentially other national colors we missed. The soccer game that celebrates the global sporting event launches April 15 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and includes six core modes.
Captain your country in 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
EA's quadrennial FIFA World Cup sub-series comes around as often as the global sporting event does, but this year's version will still include some familiar modes. EA Sports announced six core modes for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil this week, each celebrating the cherished soccer event in different ways. First up is the game's Road to the FIFA World Cup mode, which allows players to take one of the 203 international teams through the World Cup competition starting in the qualifying rounds. That's separate from the game's "authentic" 2014 FIFA World Cup mode, which begins with the teams that qualified for the group stages and can be played online or locally. The game also includes the Road to Rio de Janeiro mode, which has players competing online at each of the 12 Brazilian World Cup venues, similar to FIFA 14's Online Seasons mode. 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil also includes two historic modes: Story of Finals follows this summer's competition and issues challenges based on the results of each real-life match while Story of Qualifying features over 60 matches from the two-and-a-half year qualifying cycle for the upcoming World Cup event. The latter mode also features challenges specific to the outcomes of those historic games as well, such as scoring two goals as a 10-man France team against Spain in 11 minutes to qualify for the event. Lastly, players will be able to guide an individual athlete, either real or created, through the World Cup process in Captain Your Country mode. While a similar mode from 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa allowed players to use their created footballers from FIFA 10 in the mode, it's unclear if 2014 FIFA World Cup maintains the same compatibility with FIFA 14. The game will also feature standard online and local friendly matches in addition to 50 new skill games. 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil launches April 15 in North America and April 17 in Europe on Xbox 360 and PS3. [Image: EA Sports]
Report: EA requested college athlete likenesses prior to NCAA lawsuit
The NCAA reportedly considered licensing the names and likeness of student athletes to Electronic Arts for its college sports games before the publisher faced its class action suit led by Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller in May 2009. Documents from the ongoing Ed O'Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit reveal that EA sought to depict the athletes "just as they are shown on TV broadcasts" as of 2007, AL.com reported. "This means putting student-athlete names on rosters and on jerseys in the game, and secondarily using facial likenesses (this could be done in stages)," the NCAA document in question stated. The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) was also involved in the discussion, as documents stating the CLC's position involved in the O'Bannon lawsuit said that "using the rosters in the games, and maybe the names of student-athletes on jerseys in the game would be worthwhile." The documents also reportedly state that the NCAA was aware that EA already based rosters for its college sports games on real-life athletes. While EA and the CLC settled its lawsuit with student athletes to the tune of $40 million last year after canceling its college football game in development for this year, the O'Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit only just reached a new milestone today: U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ordered that settlement talks between both parties begin. The NCAA also sued EA and the CLC in November, alleging that EA failed to agree to compensate the NCAA for losses related to legal claims from student athletes after its proposed settlement. [Image: NCAA]
Design your own team logos, uniforms in Madden NFL contest
EA Tiburon kicked off a design contest late last week for the next game in the Madden NFL series. The developer is challenging fans with creating new logos and uniforms for the game, and is accepting submissions now through March 7. EA's last release in the series, Madden 25, brought back the ability to relocate NFL teams in the game to 17 different cities. While the contest announcement stresses that EA prefers user-created logo and uniform designs based on those 17 cities and the dozens of team names that were created for Madden 25, it will accept submissions that involve other team names and locations. Those looking to enter their designs for, say, a Milwaukee-based football franchise can download EA's uniform and logo design packet (in .zip file form) to get started. [Image: EA Sports]
EA tweet was 'unauthorized,' no new NBA Jam announcements
A tweet teasing a new entry in basketball series NBA Jam came from unauthorized use of the account, EA has told Joystiq. "Yesterday, there was unauthorized use of the @nbajam Twitter handle," an EA representative said. "We do not have any announcements to make about NBA Jam at this time." The tweet in question is still on the account. The series returned to consoles in 2010 with NBA Jam before an enhanced NBA Jam: On Fire Edition version arrived in 2011. The series is dormant, then, until EA decides to officially announce a new game. In other words, this is like that time Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, Muggsy Bogues and Larry Johnson had to wait for Michael Jordan to bring their basketball talent back to them in Space Jam. [Image: Electronic Arts]
EA teases re-re-return of NBA Jam
EA Sports has issued a tweet gauging interest in an NBA Jam sequel, hinting at a new entry in the long-running arcade-style basketball series. NBA Jam returned to consoles in 2010 after a lengthy hiatus, arriving first for the Nintendo Wii and later making its way to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. An enhanced downloadable version, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, followed in 2011, offering an array of gameplay improvements and new features. Electronic Arts has not announced any plans to produce an NBA Jam sequel, and in a rare display of reticence, @NBAJamAnnouncer remains silent on the issue. [Image: EA]
EA Sports UFC footage details fighter likeness
If there's one major selling point for EA Sports UFC, it's the detailed likeness of its fighters. The publisher touted as much in its latest trailer for the PS4 and Xbox One MMA game, which is due out this spring.
NBA Live 14 update expected this month, adds Shootaround mode
EA Sports has outlined a second content update for NBA Live 14, noting the presence of a Shootaround mode and visual and gameplay tweaks in the patch. EA Sports Marketer Ty Stover's tweet, spotted by Polygon, suggests the update may come "as early as Monday," but an exact date has not been shared. Shootaround will let players shoot hoops and get a handle on controls without having to outwit defenders or watch a shot clock. EA Sports describes Shootaround as the "first step" toward creating a "robust, comprehensive onboarding experience." The post states the team is looking forward to feedback for additional features desired for "next year's game," suggesting that additional, significant introductory features won't make it to NBA Live 14. For those requiring additional help with NBA Live 14, the post points to online video tutorials that break down styles of play. The update will also implement changes to ball physics, passing speeds, dribbling and first steps. The post also references lighting and color changes to address the "plastic" appearance of players in NBA Live 14. EA Sports writes that these changes are "transitional steps which not only help us right now, but as we continue to work on the franchise." A process of scanning the heads of NBA players to approach photorealism is also mentioned, with plans to utilize the work in next year's game. The planned update will follow a statement in November from NBA Live 14's executive producer, which admitted that the team had "a lot of work to do." Our review described the game as feeling "unfinished," and when compared to NBA 2K14, we felt NBA Live 14 was "nowhere near deserving of your time and money." [Image: EA]
Daily Roundup: FIFA 2014 World Cup Brazil, concept car with a drone companion and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
EA Sports' 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil won't be coming to Xbox One or PlayStation 4
As is the case every four years, FIFA's biggest football competition is about to take place. To celebrate the 2014 tournament, which will be played in Brazil, EA Sports is releasing a title to give fans a chance to virtually experience the World Cup on gaming consoles. While the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil game will be available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, we were surprised to find out that EA Sports won't be bringing it to their next-gen revisions, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Here's what the game's Lead Producer, Mat Prior, told us: When we made the decision we considered a number of factors but most importantly we wanted to create the best game we could that could reach as many people as possible and the way to do that was make our best game yet on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. We gave our team the mandate of setting a laser focus on building the highest quality game for X360 and PS3 they could, and that's exactly what they are doing.
2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil announced for Xbox 360, PS3 in April [Update: Not next-gen]
EA announced a new game to accompany this summer's World Cup soccer event: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The game will arrive on April 15 in North America and April 17 in Europe for Xbox 360 and PS3. Pre-order bonuses for the game include special All-Star and Classic XI teams, though no price was given for the game and its four editions. The next entry in EA's World Cup series will uses licenses that span 203 national teams, 7,469 athletes, 19 officially-licensed managers and 21 new stadiums, which will include all 12 stadiums from Brazil in which the global event will take place. EA said that 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil will improve on the excellent FIFA 14 with one hundred new animations and other buzzword-like locomotion features such as Explosive Movement and World Class Control. It will also include an offline tournament mode, Road to the FIFA World Cup, as well as the new online mode Road to Rio de Janeiro, which has players "win their way across a map of Brazil's 12 host cities in licensed and authentic stadiums." EA CFO Blake Jorgensen was pretty clear in including the next FIFA World Cup game in the publisher's list of games upcoming next-gen games during its Q2 2014 earnings call in late October 2013. We've asked EA if 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil will come to PS4 and Xbox One, and will update as we learn more. Update: An EA representative tells Joystiq that the game is "coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PS3 as a fully featured console game. There will not be a World Cup full console game for the new generation of consoles." To make up for it, the publisher plans to issue "a range of engaging content within FIFA Ultimate Team so that fans on the new generation of consoles can experience the World Cup in fun and unique ways."
