UEFA 2012 Coming In a Matter of Weeks – But Not As a Standalone Title

Given that the UEFA EURO series always releases in spring prior to the official tournament the question of where EA Sports’ announcement of the game was considering the late date had arisen. That announcement finally came today and given the news it makes more sense why promotion of the game didn’t begin sooner.

UEFA EURO 2012 will release on April 24 but instead of doing so as a standalone title it will be a downloadable expansion pack for FIFA 12. For $20 on the PS3, 360, and PC the expansion includes all 53 teams, 8 stadiums, online tournaments, and an “Expedition” mode.

The all-new Expedition Mode designed exclusively for UEFA EURO 2012 enables fans to build, manage and compete with a customized team against other European nations, crafting the perfect strategy for European domination. Fans will choose their favourite European player or FIFA Soccer 12 Virtual Pro to captain their customized team, win matches to earn better players from defeated nations, and then defeat the best nations to earn the best players in a campaign quest to defeat all 53 countries and complete the journey to conquer Europe.

With FIFA 12 having become the fastest selling sports game worldwide of all-time those who already own the game will benefit greatly by being able to take advantage of the UEFA expansion as a $20 add-on instead of having to buy a whole new $60 product. The downside to this of course that those who don’t already have FIFA 12 are left out in the cold with the only option being to purchase it so they can also grab UEFA. The number of people in that particular situation though would seem to be somewhat inconsequential as FIFA 12 would have probably held more appeal than a UEFA offering on its own. The World Cup series is the one that really sells to a different audience.