EA's Madden NFL 07 Returns Opening Week Kick-Off With Biggest Retail Performance Ever; $100 Million Week-One Gross Tops Most Summer Films

August 31, 2006

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 31, 2006--Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), estimates that customers have purchased more than two million copies of Madden NFL 07 in its first week -- the best performance in the 17-year history of the game franchise. Unit sales are roughly 12 percent higher than one year ago.

"We put a ton of innovation into Madden NFL 07 from new game modes and controls to NFL Superstar Hall of Fame," said Todd Sitrin, EA Vice President of Marketing. "Consumers are the most meaningful judge of game quality and based on sales and the record-setting online activity, our toughest critics think Madden NFL has delivered another great game experience."

"This is the Madden gamers have been waiting for," says Jon Robinson, Editor-in-Chief of IGN Sports. "From the fans to the football players themselves, all anyone is talking about is Madden, and for good reason."

"Madden NFL 07 continues to grow in strength and popularity with our customers," said Jill Hamburger, VP of gaming at Best Buy. "It's one of our biggest releases of the year and proof of that is in the energy and excitement you see in our stores on release day, not only with customers but with our Blue Shirts, it truly is an event."

EA estimates:

  • Madden NFL 07 had the biggest launch in the history of the franchise, selling through more than two million units.
  • Unit sales of Madden NFL 07 are up 12 percent over the 1.8 million units sold in a comparable period last year.
  • According to Microsoft, Madden players are breaking records for online play(1) on the Xbox 360. Within five days of the launch, Madden players unlocked more than 600,000 achievements and logged more than two million hours of online game play. That's the equivalent of 228 years of online gaming in less than a week.
  • NCAA® Football 07 was the #1 selling video game on the Xbox 360, Xbox, the PlayStation®2 and PSP® (PlayStation®) Portable July 2006.

Entering its 17th year and with more than 53 million copies sold life to date, Madden NFL Football continues to stand out as the most popular football videogame franchise of all time with a combination of innovative new features and the most authentic football gameplay. Developed in Orlando, FL by EA Tiburon Madden NFL 07 is available on Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, PC (as well as www.downloader.ea.com), PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system and Game Boy® Advance. Madden NFL 07 is rated "E" (Everyone) by the ESRB and has an MSRP of $59.99 for the Xbox 360, $49.99 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, $39.99 for Nintendo GameCube, PSP, and PC, $29.99 for Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. Madden NFL 07 Hall of Fame Edition has an MSRP of $69.99 for the Xbox 360 and $59.99 for the PlayStation2. In Europe, Madden NFL 07 launches on PS2, Xbox, NDS, PC, PC Downloader August 25 and on Xbox 360 and PSP September. For more information check out www.madden07.com.

Developed in Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon, NCAA Football 07 is available for the Xbox 360, Xbox and PlayStation 2 console. The game is rated "E" (Everyone) by the ESRB. The game's official website is www.ncaafootball06.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS, EA, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

(1) INTERNET CONNECTION required for online play. Not all features available with all platforms. For information on the online play features for either Madden NFL 07 or NCAA Football 07, go to www.easports.com.

Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. The mark "John Madden" and the name of John Madden are trademarks or other intellectual property of Red Bear, Inc. or John Madden, are subject to license to Electronic Arts Inc., and may not be otherwise used in whole or in part without the prior written consent of Red Bear or John Madden. NFL Properties LLC. Team names/logos are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. Officially licensed product of PLAYERS INC. All names, logos, team icons, and mascots associated with the NCAA, universities, bowls and conferences are the exclusive properties of the respective institutions. NCAA is a registered trademark of National Collegiate Athletic Association. PlayStation and PSP are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox and Xbox Live are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or in other countries. Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: EA for Madden NFL 07 PR
Wendy Spander, 650-628-7929
wspander@ea.com

SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.