Arena Football: Road to Glory Picks Up Sales

March 8th, 2007

ROUND ROCK, Texas - Gaming software mega-giant Electronic Arts claims "It’s in the game," and now with its newest release available at local retailers the Austin Wranglers can claim the same. EA’s Arena Football: Road to Glory hit shelves Thursday, Feb. 22 with even higher expectations of its inaugural title Arena Football which reached more than 500,000 units sold since its release in spring of 2006 thus expediting a sequel originally scheduled for 2008.

Electronic Arts Inc., headquartered in Redwood City , Calif. , is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies in 2006.

Road to Glory, under the EA Sports brand which includes Madden NFL and NCAA Football, is available on the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and features the only arena football game available for indoor football enthusiasts. Road to Glory brings all the thrills and chills of what is commonly referred to as the "50-yard war."

Unlike its predecessor, Road to Glory features teams from both the AFL and arenafootball2 - Arena’s minor league little brother. More than 80 teams are available and for the first time, fans can play as their favorite af2 franchise.

"Sales are really picking up now that the season has started," said Daniel Hortick, GameStop sales representative of Round Rock. "Arena Football did better than anticipated and with the addition of af2, Road to Glory should do even better. But this title will sell just because it’s EA Sports, plus it gives gamers waiting for the next Madden a much needed football fix."

This is not AFL’s first foray into the video gaming market.

In 2000, Midway debuted Kurt Warner’s Arena Football Unleashed, but poor game play and an underdeveloped Arena market resulted in poor sales and a cease in production. Not even cover boy and namesake Kurt Warner, former quarterback of the now-defunct Iowa Barnstormers, could save the title even with a Super Bowl championship and MVP award with the St. Louis Rams five months earlier.

"We are looking forward to the public reaction of Road to Glory," said Jon Dean, EA Sports Executive Producer. "It was important for EA to create a title that stood alone and not become just another version of Madden or NCAA. We accomplished this with our first title, and with more features, more teams and a bigger audience we are certain to be successful with the second."

The game release comes just weeks after ESPN purchased a minority ownership stake in the AFL. The network and league entered into a five-year agreement that includes extensive multimedia rights and a minimum of 26 televised games per season.

"Things are certainly looking up," said Doug MacGregor, President of the AFL’s Austin Wranglers. "The video game provides us with a broader audience while teaching the nuances of the sport. I feel that our relationship with EA Sports has been more beneficial for our league than any other media partnership in the past, including the former television deal with NBC."

"EA Sports and ESPN are both part of the American culture … it’s a lifestyle," said Dean. "These are meaningful, credible advances in the progression of a league that is entering its 21st year, and I can say EA SPORTS is very fortunate to be a part of it."

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Entry Filed under: General, Sportexe Products In Play