FIFA 12 ‘outsold PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) 2012 by 25 times’ according to EA
Electronic Arts, the publisher behind the FIFA series as well as the latest instalment in the franchise, FIFA 12, claimed to have outsold their closest rival, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, by a ratio of 25 to 1.
The two titles have been at war with each other for as long as any gamer can remember as each tried to establish dominance over the other as the best football simulation game on the planet.
There was a time when Pro Evolution Soccer was at the top, with every iteration of the FIFA series seemingly the same thing as the previous one with a bit of extra polish, but ever since David Rutter took the helm at EA Sports for the FIFA franchise things
have changed, drastically.
Keith Ramsdale, head of Electronic Arts’ Northern Europe region, seemed more than a little pleased when he announced, “When you look at Pro Evolution Soccer versus FIFA, only five years ago in the UK OES was outselling FIFA.” A fact almost every football
loving gamer will attest to.
He continued, “On its first weekend like-for-like we’ve just outsold PES by 25 times.”
It may be slightly hardly to believe but FIFA 12 had a phenomenal opening week at the video game sales charts, taking top spot in every format and selling over 3.2-million copies in its opening seven days.
Pro Evolution on the other hand could not manage a single top place finish in any of the charts outside of Japan.
Keith Ramsdale seemed to want to emphasize on this further when he said, “That’s a sign of the momentum and the fan base and community behind FIFA, and let’s be clear, an absolutely kick-a**e game. It’s unbelievable.”
FIFA 11 was widely praised by critics and gamers alike so it came as a surprise when EA Sports took a major risk and brought significant changes to the gameplay for FIFA 12, introducing ‘tactical defending’, a game changer in its own right, and the new Physical
Engine.
The move paid off as the latest reviews are hailing it as the most complete footballing experience to date. It seems that the risk EA took, to tinker with the game’s mechanics, has paid off big-time.
It may be early days still, with Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 out in the market for just over a week, yet even then, with the start that FIFA 12 managed to pull off, it will be a season of catching up for Konami’s once invincible title.
However, sales itself do not define if a game is any good or not, but it does go a long way in presenting quantitative data to do so and for the time being it seems that FIFA is still the king of the current generation of football simulation games.
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