EA Sports has dismissed the September 24 launch date that several retailers listed for its FIFA 11 football simulation. The Electronic Arts division has offered a statement revealing that the date is “pure speculation” adding that the intention is to actually announce the real release date in the coming weeks. The Gamescom convention is fast approaching and EA Sports might be preparing to use that venue to make the announcement, which will please quite a few fans of the beautiful game.

EA Sports is set to make some changes to its launch schedule this year, mainly because it aims to introduce a new EA Sports MMA franchise, which will compete with UFC Undisputed for the mixed martial arts market, and it needs to give the new comer as good a launch slot as possible to assure good sales. The NBA series, now known as Elite after ten years it bore the Live name tag, is set to come at the beginning of October and the MMA title will arrive later on that month, which means FIFA 11, which has good brand recognition and a loyal following among gamers, could be pushed forward to late September.

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Electronic Arts has announced that it is launching a new beta stage for Need for Speed World, the MMO based on the long running racing franchise. The new stage is expected to run until Wednesday, June 30, and will allow the developers at EA Black Box and EA Singapore to get some feedback from the gaming community about the mechanics of the fresh game. The launch date is at the moment set for July 20 and Need for Speed World is coming exclusively to the PC.

The announcement from EA says there are a lot of changes and tweaks made to Need for Speed World for the new beta with new additions including: “performance customization packs for each car, Private Matches, 50 levels of progression, new vehicles, a Meeting Place for car shows and a whole new world region (Camden).” For the first time, the developers are also offering a German version of the client for the MMO.

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