EA Sports Not Expected To Renew NASCAR License At Year's End
By Michael Smith, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
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NASCAR, EA Have Been Partners Since '97,
But NASCAR Sales Have Been Dropping |
EA Sports' license to produce exclusive NASCAR games expires at the end of the year and EA has no plans to renew it, the company said. NASCAR and EA have been partners since '97 when the game producer began making its line of exclusive NASCAR games. The last of the original franchise, "NASCAR 09" debuted in '08 and EA replaced it this year with the release of "NASCAR Kart Racing." EA Senior PR Manager Rob Semsey confirmed that "we currently have no plans to develop additional NASCAR-licensed games." In an interview this week with gaming industry Web site Gamespot.com, EA Sports President Peter Moore said, "We had a great relationship over the years that I thoroughly enjoyed when I first got here. Unfortunately, we had to make some tough trade-offs. We've had to redeploy some of those folks. A number of the NASCAR team has moved over now to EA Sports MMA, which will be shipping next year. (We're) still a huge fan of NASCAR, but no plans right now to develop any further games for NASCAR from EA Sports." NASCAR sales have been dipping, according to Gamespot.com, since a recent high-water mark with "NASCAR 05," which sold nearly 900,000 units. By "NASCAR 08," sales were down to 677,596 and dropped even more with "NASCAR 09" at 443,116. The switch to the more kid-friendly "Kart Racing," which launched in February, has not moved the needle, with '09 sales so far totaling just under 200,000.
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