SBJ Gaming: EA Sports FC 25 avoids sophomore slump (2024)


A few weeks ago, I turned 50 while visiting SBJ HQ in Charlotte. When I came home, my wife took great pleasure in handing me an enrollment letter from the AARP. I later joked online that the AARP should be offering discounts on gaming products and services, and the more I think about this, the more it makes sense to me -- especially after reading some demographic info about aging gamers that's in this week's newsletter.

SBJ Gaming: EA Sports FC 25 avoids sophomore slump (1)

EA Sports FC 25 saw double-digit growth over last year's launch sales numbersEA Sports

Any worries EA Sports may have had about the performance of FC 25 must have dissipated almost immediately after the first sales number rolled in, as it didn't just set a record for the launch of a soccer game -- it did so with double-digit growth from the series’ debut last year, reports tracking firm Circana from its September 2024 video game sales report.

EA Sports College Football 25 also continued to set records, becoming the No. 2 best-selling sports video game in Circana’s tracking history for U.S. full-game dollar sales, behind only NBA 2K21.

“It was a pretty good jump this year for EA Sports FC! PS5, [Xbox Series S] and Switch all saw increases year-on-year.” Circana Executive Director/Video Games Mat Piscatella said. “I'm not sure if this is incredibly surprising; perhaps it’s a mild surprise. Soccer has been a growth area for many years now, and EA has more than successfully shifted from the FIFA branding to EA Sports FC. OpenCritic has the consensus slightly higher for EA Sports FC 25 compared to last year's version. But overall, it’s very strong start for EA Sports FC 25 with absolutely no hangover from the shift away from the FIFA branding.”

EA Sports FC 24 also showed growth beyond its predecessor, FIFA 23, when it debuted in 2023.

September is a big month for the launch of sports games. NBA 2K25 debuted No. 7, and that was just for physical sales (2K doesn’t report digital sales). EA Sports’ NHL 25 debuted at ninth.

“Looking at NBA 2K units, which are both physical and digital across both releases in our tracking, while Take-Two Interactive digital revenue reporting is subject to a 13-week delay, they're down slightly compared to last year's launch with similar weeks in market,” Piscatella said. “NHL also looks to be down year-on-year, although the launch timings are misaligned, so we'll need a bit more time in the market to get a better read. NHL 25 has received a less favorable critical reception than NHL 24 enjoyed, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see a drop-off in volume.

Madden NFL 25 and College Football 25 continue to display the strength of EA’s sports games. Madden went from No. 1 in August to No. 3 in September. EA Sports College Football 25 dropped from second to fifth. Sales are still strong for both, especially College Football 25.

“EA Sports College Football 25 has now generated the highest full game dollar sales of any football game in U.S. history, and this does not include any volume from the EA Sports MVP Bundle,” Piscatella said. “The record had been held by Madden NFL 07. This is a big one ... Madden NFL 07 still holds the unit record. … It's safe to say that EA Sports College Football 25 is doing alright.”

Now with both games on the market together for two months, the EA Sports MVP Bundle (Madden and College Football) came in at 20, falling from No. 4 in August. It’ll be interesting to watch how this first-ever football bundle works for EA going forward.

“It depends on what EA decides to do with promotional pricing. It could stick around through December if its price promoted, or perhaps not,” Piscatella said. “I'm looking forward to seeing what happens here as well, as this one doesn't have a lot of comparable benchmarks to look at. I'm assuming it will stick around on the charts through at minimum January, but we'll see!”

What they’re playing (over and over again)

When it comes to monthly active users (MAUs), Call of Duty HQ (that’s Warzone, Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III) leads all games on PlayStation, swapping places with Fortnite from last month. Roblox (fourth) and EA Sports College Football 24 (fifth) held serve in September, as did MLB: The Show 24 at sixth. NBA 2K25 debuted at seventh, with NBA 2K24 still on the chart at ninth and Madden NFL 25 at 10th.

On Xbox Series X/S, the top three didn’t change -- Call of Duty HQ, Fortnite and Roblox. EA Sports College Football 25 dropped a slot to seventh, but Madden climbed from 11th to ninth. Forza Horizon 5 was the only racing game on either console’s top 10 in MAUs at 10th, leaping from 15th.

SBJ Gaming: EA Sports FC 25 avoids sophomore slump (2)

Racing games such as Microsoft's Forza Horizon 5 remain popular with older adultsTurn Ten Studios

Last week, Circana put out what I found to be a fascinating report about consumer behavior around video games. It found that 71% of U.S. consumers play games, which doesn’t surprise me. It also found that most gamers are 45 and older. Again, no surprise -- we grew up with video games (my first memory of playing a game is trying to reach the controls of a Space Invaders cabinet at the Alpha Beta in 1977).

But two parts of the report stand out to me:

  • Gen Alpha (ages 2-12 years old) is gaming less, with that age group’s playtime down 6% since 2022
  • The “Super Gamer” demographic (mostly men ages 18-34) makes up 16% of all players in the U.S. and is growing, from 36 million in 2022 to 38.3 million this year.

Now, it doesn’t surprise me that young men are playing a lot of games. Per Circana Executive Director/Video Games Mat Piscatella, this group plays “just about everything and anything,” and 27% of them play console sports games (this describes me, but I play more sports games than the average Super Gamer). While the Super Gamer may be a growing segment, Piscatella notes that with “Console Warriors” -- folks more focused on fighting, shooters and sports games -- remain a top target, with 42% of them playing sports games.

When it comes to Gen Alpha, Piscatella says the numbers are murkier because the 2020 survey was conducted during the summer of COVID, when more people were indoors and gaming spiked. It’ll be interesting to watch how that group ages -- and if they are casual gamers, Super Gamers or Console Warriors in the future.

Speaking of aging, a few stats about those geezers like me playing games, who make up the majority of players in the market.

  • Older adults have an “increased interest” in consoles. Piscatella says this group has seen growth in console play, from 19% in 2020 to 23% in 2022 and now 26% in 2024. “This is mostly about lifelong console gamers, those who had an Atari 2600 back in the day, aging into the segment,” he said, noting that the PlayStation 5 is the “most popular console” with them, but there are “more owners of the Switch” in the segment. However, turns out console ownership has the “lowest penetration among Later Adults than in any other demographic segment.”
  • And the games they’re playing? Piscatella says it shooters and action games are the most popular among Later Adults, followed by sports, racing and fighting games.
  • This week marks one year since the launch of EA Sports' UFC 5, and gamers in that time have played 581.5 million total fights. Conor McGregor remains the top male fighter for play time, followed by Alex Pereira and Max Holloway. Valentina Shevchenko leads female fighters played, followed by Amanda Nunes and Alexa Grasso.
  • Undisputed, a boxing game from England-based indie game maker Steel City Interactive that features real fighters, has sold 1 million units, notes GamesIndustry.biz.
  • Workers at 2K's mocap studio in Northern California "called for voluntary recognition by management at Take-Two" to form a union under IATSE, per Game Developer. This studio handles the motion capture for 2K Sports, among other 2K studios.
  • The BBC had a piece under the header: "Is Africa the next frontier for esports and pro gaming?"
SBJ Gaming: EA Sports FC 25 avoids sophomore slump (2024)
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