Madden NFL 21

Madden NFL 21 is an upcoming American football video game based on the National Football League (NFL), being developed by EA Tiburon and published by Electronic Arts. It is an installment of the long-running Madden NFL series. It will be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, then will be available on upcoming consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X upon their releases planned for holiday season; a release for Google's Stadia cloud game service is also planned. It will feature Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as the cover athlete.[1] Jackson revealed he will be the cover star for the game on April 21, 2020. The game was officially announced on May 7, 2020.

Madden NFL 21
Cover art featuring Lamar Jackson
Developer(s)EA Tiburon
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Producer(s)Ben Haumiller
Composer(s)John Debney
Kris Bowers
SeriesMadden NFL
EngineFrostbite 3
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • August 28, 2020
  • PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox Series X
  • Q4 2020
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player,
multiplayer

Development

Baltimore Ravens quarterback and 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson revealed he would be the cover athlete on April 21, 2020. Jackson will be the second Ravens player to be cover athlete of a Madden game, after Ray Lewis in Madden NFL 2005. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to do a standard photo shoot for the game's cover; instead, EA Tiburon contacted Shawn Hubbard, the official team photographer for the Baltimore Ravens, to provide photos of Jackson for the cover.[2]

Due to the Washington Redskins announcing the retirement of the team's controversial moniker on July 13, 2020, EA announced on July 17 that it would be doing an update on the game to remove the team's logo and name. A generic Washington team will be used in the interim pending further developments.[3][4]

Release

The game is scheduled to released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on August 28, 2020.[5][6] The other "special" version of the game will be called the MVP edition, which will be available to play three days earlier. The game was officially announced on May 7, 2020, and it was also announced the game would be available on upcoming consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X upon their releases planned for holiday season 2020.[7] EA had previously announced that the next installment of Madden NFL would also release on Stadia in winter 2020.[8][9]

Gameplay

Madden NFL 21 will include new innovative gameplay mechanics that offer advanced levels of control and inspire creativity on both sides of the ball. The new stick skill ball-carrier system will give the user all out control, fresh pass rush moves will be introduced. Tackle improvements will create more open-field realism, and there will be new user-controlled celebrations. This, along with the release date, was revealed in the description of a first-look video originally set to premiere on June 1,[10] but was delayed until June 16 due to the George Floyd protests.[11]

Music

The official soundtrack was released on August 14, 2020. EA Sports stated the soundtrack is "Continuing a commitment to bring exclusive music that is custom to the sport, it's lifestyle and celebration". The hip hop soundtrack features 18 tracks "created or curated especially for the game, showcasing the next-level superstars by transcending genre, geography and generations". It includes music from Anderson Paak, Rick Ross, Denzel Curry, and Smino, among others.[12] An original score by composer Kris Bowers will also be included for the Franchise mode, while Yard mode features additional music by Party Favor and producer Matt Rad.[12]

Criticism

On June 16, 2020, the trailer for Madden NFL 21 was released and panned by reviewers and gamers, who noted no new apparent changes to previous installments and called the game "a $60 roster update".[13] A few days later on June 30, 2020, EA announced some new features to the franchise mode, which were also lamented. Users claim that no changes have been made to the franchise mode in recent years, and took to Twitter to express their frustration. The hashtag "#FixMaddenFranchise" became the most-viewed on Twitter in the United States on July 1, 2020, with over 100,000 tweets in 24 hours.[14][15]

References
  1. Butler, Alex (April 21, 2020). "Ravens Lamar Jackson to be Madden 21 cover star". UPI.
  2. Sarkar, Samit (June 16, 2020). "Madden NFL 21's coronavirus-induced cover art is ... great, actually". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  3. "Statement From The Washington Redskins Football Team". Redskins.com. July 13, 2020.
  4. Wolf, Jacob (July 17, 2020). "Electronic Arts to remove Washington logo, name from Madden NFL 21". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  5. Heck, Jordan (2020-05-31). "When does 'Madden 21' come out? Release date leaked in promo video". Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  6. "Madden NFL 21 Pre-Order Guide: Editions, Bonuses, Release Date, And More". GameSpot. June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  7. Sarkar, Samit (May 7, 2020). "Madden NFL 21 next-gen gameplay revealed". Polygon.com. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  8. "Electronic Arts and Google Announce Partnership to Bring EA Games to Stadia". ir.ea.com. 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  9. Warren, Tom (2020-04-28). "Google Stadia gets PUBG, with Star Wars, Madden, and FIFA arriving later this year". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  10. Reed, Jesse (2020-05-31). "EA SPORTS DELAYS 'MADDEN NFL 21' FIRST LOOK TO 'STAND WITH' THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY". sportsnaut. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  11. Goodwin, David (2020-06-12). "Madden NFL 21 Reveal Date Scheduled for June 16". futuregamereleases. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  12. "Madden NFL 21 Soundtrack". Retrieved August 15, 2020 – via EA Sports.
  13. "Madden 21 trailer leaves fans feeling 'underwhelmed' in first reactions to gameplay". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  14. Mazique, Brian. "Madden 21: 'FixMaddenFranchise' Trends No. 1 In The United States". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  15. Martinez, Philip (June 30, 2020). "Fans are Unhappy with Updates to "Madden 21" Franchise Mode". Newsweek. Retrieved July 2, 2020.


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