EA Sports online gameplay up 175 per cent
Over 2.2 million online matches are played daily across the EA Sports line
Electronic Arts has announced that an average of over 2.2 million online matches across its EA Sports line of games are played every day, an increase of 175 per cent over this period last year.
In a press release issued today, EA also announced that 500 million online games have been played across its multiple EA Sports products since the launch of its '09 product line in June 2008.
"The massive migration to online gaming has transformed the video game landscape, and this week’s 500 millionth online EA Sports game highlights the radical shift that we’ve helped pioneer in the industry," said EA Sports president Peter Moore.
"Online gameplay allows real-time competitions with fans from around the world who speak the global language of sports. EA Sports is committed to providing personal access to the emotion of sports by continuing to create immersive online features, compelling new downloadable content and daily real-time stats updates."
According to EA, six games in the EA Sports line have over 500,000 registered online users, with Madden NFL 09 and FIFA 09 recording more than 2.4 million users each.
Among new products contributing to this growth is downloadable add-on FIFA 09 Ultimate Team, which launched March 19 and has, according to the release, sparked the highest online activity FIFA 09 has seen since its launch last October. Prior to the add-on's release GamesIndustry.biz reported 1.2 million FIFA 09 games played daily, leading one to assume that FIFA 09 represents the majority of the 2.2 million daily EA Sports games quoted to us today.
Xbox Live Arcade title 3 on 3 NHL Arcade has also helped drive online activity, with EA claiming that the title was the most downloaded game on the service for two straight weeks.