Madden Sees 5% Year-On-Year Retail Boost, As Madden Superstars Launches On Facebook

Publisher Electronic Arts has announced that its major retail title Madden NFL 11, which launched earlier this month for PlayStation 2 & 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PSP, is currently the number one selling game for August in the North American market, according to its internal tracking. Sales are projected to be up approximately 5 percent year-over-year across all platforms for the month, according to a statement released by the company this afternoon. In analyst note following the statement, Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian commented on the gains, suggesting that the franchise appears to be benefiting from improved gameplay, citing EA's press release -- which notes that 85 percent of users have used the new streamlined "GameFlow" play calling feature. EA says that GameFlow "streamlines play calling and shortens overall game length for a more accessible experience. " Simultaneously, EA Sports president Peter Moore announced via his EA Sports blog that card-and-management game Madden NFL Superstars has launched on Facebook. The game, which is accessible here, borrows the concept of card-based teams from the Madden Ultimate Team DLC pack for Madden NFL 10. It was created by the team at EA-owned social gaming company Playfish, who is also behind the Facebook-based EA Sports licensed title FIFA Superstars.