FIFA 11 Ultimate Team Announced

Electronic Arts today announced the record-breaking launch of EA SPORTS™ FIFA 11. Based on internal estimates, FIFA 11 has shattered sales records for the title with 2.6 million copies sold through at retail in Europe and North America through Saturday, 2 October.

FIFA 11 is the fastest-selling sports game ever and the title is off to its best start ever in markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and North America.

EA SPORTS also announced that FIFA 11 Ultimate Team, one of the most played, dynamic and connected modes within the FIFA franchise, will now be available for free on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this November.

“We’re thrilled at how fans embraced FIFA 11 last weekend, and we are excited to be able to offer one of our most popular game modes – FIFA 11 Ultimate Team – for free this November,” said Peter Moore, president of EA SPORTS.

“This is a landmark achievement for EA SPORTS – we’ve shattered sales records at retail, critics are praising FIFA 11 as being one of the most authentic and innovative titles ever, and fans are connecting and competing with other gamers around the world and have logged a record number of online connected game sessions.”

Among the notable accomplishments for FIFA 11 since its launch on 28 September in North America and 1 October in Europe:

• FIFA 11 sell-through is estimated to be up 29 percent over last year’s record-breaking launch. FIFA 11 is estimated to have grossed more than $150M at retail.
   
• 1-2 October - the first two days after FIFA 11 launched in Europe – were the busiest two days for online gaming in EA SPORTS' history. Fans registered more than 18.6 million online connected EA SPORTS game sessions overall, including more than 11.3 million of FIFA 11.
   
• FIFA 11 has earned 58 review scores of 90 or better around the world, including perfect marks from Gameblog.fr, Eurogamer Italy, PlayStation Life Style, Match magazine and the Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK. GamesMaster Magazine (UK) proclaimed that FIFA 11 is “the best football game ever,” while OPM UK raves FIFA 11 is “as close to footballing perfection as we’ve ever seen in a videogame”.

FIFA 11 Ultimate Team
FIFA 11 Ultimate Team challenges gamers to build a squad of the world's best football stars by earning, buying, selling and even trading players with other Ultimate Team gamers around the world. They can strategically craft squads to get the best chemistry and team rating, and then take them onto the pitch to compete in online and single-player tournaments which are updated weekly.

FIFA 11 Ultimate Team delivers a number of major changes as requested by gamers. Gamers can now pit their ultimate team directly against their friends' best squads in Play A Friend online matches—the No. 1 requested new feature.

Plus, when away from their consoles gamers can engage in the full auction and trading system on the web through an enhanced Ultimate Team web app which links directly to the FIFA 11 Ultimate Team console experience.

Visit http://www.facebook.com/easportsfifa to join the EA SPORTS FIFA Facebook group.