EA to release next-gen titles before consoles hit the market
Several of Electronic Arts’ upcoming next-gen titles will hit stores before the consoles are on the shelves, the company has confirmed.
Several titles, like FIFA 14, Battlefield 4 and Madden NFL 25, will release three days before the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles themselves are actually for sale in North America. The games will be available on Nov. 12 for PS4 and Nov. 19 for Xbox One; the consoles release Nov. 15 and Nov. 22, respectively.
It seems like this is a strictly North American affair, as the titles in question will release on the day of console launch in Europe (and, of course, the current-gen versions will be out well before that – Madden is already on store shelves for Xbox 350 and PlayStation 3).
It’s hard to discern precisely what EA hopes to get out of this move; no doubt the company wants to get a head-start on cornering the next-gen market, but a mere three days doesn’t seem as though it would make much of a difference (especially when the machines necessary to play the games aren’t yet available). Then again, having those games on the shelves sooner is a good way to get the games in front of people before getting lost in the glut of new releases on launch day.
What do you think, gamers? Will you pick up any of EA’s next-gen titles before the consoles themselves release? Let us know in the comments.
