Titanfall’s delay could have more to do with pre-orders than polishing

Yesterday, Electronic Arts announced that the Xbox 360 version of Titanfall will be delayed. Rather than launching alongside the Xbox One and PC versions on March 11, it'll instead be released two weeks later on March 25. It's a move designed to give the game's developer, Bluepoint, more time for polish.

However, industry analyst Michael Pachter, of Wedbush Morgan, believes there's a different, more financially-motivated reason for its delay — pre-orders and sales. It all comes down to sales targets established by EA. Its delay, according to Pachter, will ensure EA hits its expected revenue targets for the financial year ending March 31, while helping start the FY15 off on "solid footing."

“We have modeled 3.5 million units of sell-in for the game in its release quarter, with the bulk of sales likely occurring on the Xbox 360 platform; we suspect that pre-order demand for the game is above this figure, and believe that EA expects to sell more than 7 million units overall in the game’s first three months following launch,” Pachter wrote (via VG247).

“We believe that by delaying the launch of the Xbox 360 version until several days before quarter end, EA can manage its sell-in of units to around 3.5 million, and still largely satisfy demand. This will allow EA to sell sufficient units to hit its Q4 revenue and earnings guidance, and ensure that its FY:15 starts on solid footing.”

Titanfall will still release for Xbox One and PC on March 11 in the United States.