Madden NFL 12 Release Date Pushed Back Three Weeks

EA Sports has announced that Madden NFL 12 will release on Tuesday August 30th. That represents a sharp move away from the anticipated second Tuesday in August that has become tradition for the franchise. Last week it was noted that retailers had removed the original August 9th date from product listings signaling that something was going on behind the scenes.

The new release means the game will arrive in stores much closer to the start of the regular season, if there is to be one. If the lockout continues to that point optimism may decrease meaning a bigger impact on those initial sales of Madden 12. For EA Sports however that will give NCAA Football 12 an additional three weeks in the clear to collect sales before Madden arrives.

It is unknown whether the release date shift is due to the labor strife the NFL is facing, the departure of key development team members, or a combination of both. As I reported on Twitter this morning, creative director Ian Cummings is one of the names on the way out.