EA expects Mass Effect: Andromeda to sell big in its first week

Andromeda Initiative
Have we truly seen the last of Mass Effect?

EA are bold as brass these days. With their stellar hits in Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 continuing to impress as well as their annual FIFA game doing well around the world, I suppose they have good reason to be feeling bold. With Mass Effect: Andromeda just around the corner, EA obviously feel that they are on top of the gaming world, and I for one can’t help but agree to a point. I’ve been playing a ton of FIFA 17 and Battlefield 1 lately; and Mass Effect: Andromeda is without a doubt my most anticipated game of 2017.

Truth be told I’ve been looking forward to Mass Effect: Andromeda ever since BioWare first announced they were working on the next Mass Effect game back when everyone was…shall we say miffed about those Mass Effect 3 endings.

In any case, Daniel Ahmed, an “Analyst at Niko Partners. Covering the digital games market in China & Southeast Asia.” who goes by the Twitter name @ZhugeEX was on a conference call with EA yesterday who made the following bold claim…

Now I’m as big a Mass Effect fan as you can get and firstly, I was a little surprised that Mass Effect 3 only sold 6 million units, it was for me as solid a title as the previous 2 games, but maybe was a little light in depth – however the setting was vastly different to the first 2 in that the Reapers weren’t just a myth or a low-enough risk as to not give them any credence, they were invading in full force. Still I’m not here to talk about Mass Effect 1-3, although I probably could all day.

EA have such high hopes for Mass Effect: Andromeda that they are predicting that it will sell 3 million copies in its first week. Proving I’m not just a pretty face, that’s 50% of the total life-time sales of Mass Effect 3, this isn’t just a bold claim – it’s absolutely staggering. I know however that a lot of us in RGM Towers are super hyped for Mass Effect: Andromeda, (with one heathen being told to play through the trilogy before he goes anywhere near Andromeda) and these kinds of numbers would be massive for BioWare and I would just hope that they have the goods to back up what looks from the various trailers and interviews like a potential GOTY. I would imagine that EA are basing their numbers on the amount of pre-orders they’ve already processed as well as how well the Mass Effect trilogy has sold after each games (specifically Mass Effect 3′s) initial release – they wouldn’t make such a claim without some serious though having gone into it.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in North America on March 21 and in Europe 2 days later on March 23.

So with my purchase (and my leave at work already scheduled for March 23 – 28 to dedicate the time to it) in the bag, there’s another 2,999,999 to go for EA to hit their projected first week sales target.

Have you already pre-ordered Mass Effect: Andromeda? Do you think 3 million is a realistic target? Or do you think they are playing it up or down? Let us know in the comments below, the RGM Forums or on Twitter.

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