''Madden NFL 21'' is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
based on the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL), developed by
EA Tiburon
EA Tiburon is an Electronic Arts video game development studio located in Orlando, Florida, United States founded in 1994. It was formerly known as Tiburon Entertainment, which was acquired by EA in 1998. EA had already purchased a minority ...
and published by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
. It is an installment of the long-running ''
Madden NFL
''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football video game series developed by EA Tiburon for EA Sports. It is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden and sold more than 130 ...
'' series. It was released for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
on August 28, 2020, and for
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...
and
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 202 ...
on December 4, 2020. It features
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
quarterback
Lamar Jackson
Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at University of Louisville, Louisville, where he won the Heisma ...
as the cover athlete, and
Brandon Gaudin
Brandon Gaudin (born December 18, 1983) is an American sportscaster who broadcasts play-by-play of NFL and college football, basketball and baseball for Fox Sports and the Big Ten Network. He is also the voice of ''Madden NFL'' for EA Sports (201 ...
and
Charles Davis as its in-game commentators. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay but criticized its technical issues, while player reception was negative, with many heavily criticizing the lack of innovation.
A mobile version, titled ''Madden NFL 21 Mobile'', was released on
iOS and
Android a few weeks before the game's initial launch as a full rework of the 2014 mobile game ''
Madden NFL Mobile
''Madden NFL Mobile'' is an American football mobile sports game based on the National Football League, developed and published by Electronic Arts. An entry in the ''Madden NFL'' series, the game was released for Android and iOS devices on Au ...
''.
Development
On April 21, 2020,
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
quarterback and 2019
NFL MVP
The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered the most valuable in the National Football League (NFL) during the regular season. Organizati ...
Lamar Jackson
Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at University of Louisville, Louisville, where he won the Heisma ...
revealed he would be the cover athlete. Jackson was the second Ravens player to be cover athlete of a ''Madden'' game, after
Ray Lewis
Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who played as a middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the National Football League (NFL). He played ...
in ''
Madden NFL 2005
''Madden NFL 2005'' is an American football simulation video game based on the NFL that was developed by EA Tiburon, along with Exient Entertainment and Budcat Creations, and published by EA Sports. The 16th installment of the '' Madden NFL seri ...
''. Because of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, 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 Ravens, to provide photos of Jackson for the cover.
The game features 18 tracks from artists such as
Anderson .Paak,
Big K.R.I.T.,
Rick Ross,
Denzel Curry
Denzel Rae Don Curry (born February 16, 1995) is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Carol City, Florida, Curry started rapping while in the sixth grade and began working on his first mixtape in 2011. Influenced by underground Flo ...
, and
Smino
Christopher Smith Jr. (born October 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Smino, is an American rapper and singer. Smino is the founder of the musical collective Zero Fatigue with Bari, Monte Booker, Jay2, and Ravyn Lenae. He is a member o ...
. An original score by composer
Kris Bowers
Kristopher Bowers (born 1989) is an American composer and pianist. He has composed scores for films, video games, television and documentaries including ''Bridgerton'', '' Green Book'', ''Madden NFL'', '' Dear White People'', and ''Kobe Bryant's ...
was included for the Franchise mode, while Yard mode features additional music by
Party Favor and
Matt Rad. The official soundtrack was released on August 14, 2020.
Alan Roach, who has been the PA announcer for the
Super Bowl, the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
and the
NFL International Series
The NFL International Series is a series of American football games during the National Football League (NFL) regular season that are played outside the United States. Since 2017, the series has two sub-series: the NFL London Games in the Uni ...
, as well as the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
, will be serving as the announcer.
Release
The game was released on
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
on August 28, 2020. The other "special" version of the game was 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
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...
and
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 202 ...
upon their releases planned on December 4, 2020. The members of the 99 club at launch were
Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Lavon Mahomes II (born September 17, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). The son of former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Pat Mahomes, he initially played c ...
,
Christian McCaffrey
Christian Jackson McCaffrey (born June 7, 1996) is an American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers eighth overa ...
,
Michael Thomas,
Aaron Donald
Aaron Charles Donald (born May 23, 1991) is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he received unanimous All-American honors, and ...
, and
Stephon Gilmore. EA had previously announced that the next installment of ''Madden NFL'' would also release on
Stadia in winter 2020.
Gameplay
EA Tiburon stated that ''Madden NFL 21'' would 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 was added, and new pass rush moves were introduced. Changes to tackling and new user-controlled celebrations were also added. This, along with the release date, was revealed in the description of a first-look video originally set to premiere on June 1, but was delayed until June 16 due to the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...
.
On September 8, EA announced that
Colin Kaepernick would be made available to play in the game and sign as a free agent, the first time he appeared in the franchise since ''
Madden NFL 17''. The move was met with a mixed response, due in part to Kaepernick being rated an 81 overall, higher than other comparable quarterbacks like
Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...
(80) and
Kyler Murray
Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint at Texas A&M, Murray played college football at Oklahoma, where he won the Heisman Trop ...
(77).
The game also features a backyard-style mode known as "The Yard". In addition to the players in the normal game, two-time
NBA MVP
The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. Starting with the 2022–23 ...
Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers
Thanasis and
Kostas, also
NBA players, are playable characters in this mode. An EA promotional video has the three brothers playing in uniforms inspired by their homeland of
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
. In January 2021, an expansion of ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...
''-themed content was added to The Yard (including a Bikini Bottom-themed "reef-top" stadium, and themed modes and cosmetic items), as a cross-promotion for
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
's simulcast of a January 10 wild card playoff game.
Reception
Critical response
''Madden NFL 21'' received mixed reviews from critics, according to
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
''
IGN'' gave the game a 6.0/10, criticizing its persistent unfixed issues regarding Franchise mode amongst several neglected features and gameplay bugs, writing: "Despite the fact that ''Madden NFL 21'' features arguably the best core gameplay the series has ever seen and the introduction of a fun new mode in The Yard, the continued neglect shown to classic Franchise mode, lack of innovation across the board, and technical issues leave this gridiron mismatch coming up short."
[ '']GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' also gave the game 6.0/10, praising the new Yard game mode and mechanic updates, but noted the "rampant technical issues and bugs".[
'']GamesRadar+
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites '' Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and ''Computer ...
'' gave the game 3/5 stars, praising the Yard game mode, as well as the updates to Face of the Franchise, but knocked Franchise, Superstar KO, and Ultimate Team for remaining unchanged.[ Also giving the game 3/5 stars, '']USgamer
Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...
'' wrote: "''Madden 21''s gameplay takes some appreciable steps forward as the generation comes to a close, with The Yard providing some casual fun. The experience is marred by an abnormal number of bugs though, and the single-player modes remain a major sore point. Ultimately, it's able to pick up a few yards on the way to the next generation of consoles, but just a few."[
'']Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' gave the game a 7.75/10, writing: "Those looking for a huge step forward in the EA Sports' football franchise won't find it with ''Madden NFL 21''. However, despite its lack of major upgrades, ''Madden NFL 21'' is still a mechanically sound and fun football game."[
In his review, '']Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' contributor Brian Mazique cited the game's "historically low" review scores and said, "While the gameplay is in as good of a spot as it's been for a while, ''Madden 21'' is dragged down but neglected features, stagnant and/or underdeveloped concepts. Hopefully, this inconsistent effort is a product of the development team packing tons into the next-gen version. If not, all things considered, from a reception standpoint, this could be one of the worst years in franchise history."
Audience response
Player response to ''Madden NFL 21'' has been overwhelmingly negative.
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". 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
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
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.
Upon release, the game received an overwhelmingly negative response from Metacritic users, who review bombed the game's entry; the PlayStation 4 release received the lowest ever Metacritic user rating for a game, which was later tied with '' Diablo Immortal'' in 2022.
'' Screen Rant'' wrote that players were "upset with the lack of changes, the continued gaming bugs that weren't fixed from past installments, and EA's repeated use of microtransactions." Several days after the game's release, the hashtag "#NFLdropEA" was trending on Twitter, with users calling for the NFL to opt-out of its exclusive rights deal with EA Sports. Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
sports columnist Ryan Gaydos covered the widespread negative player response to the game, writing "The main hitch for gamers was the lack of an in-depth franchise mode, which was beloved in the earlier versions of the game. The ''Madden'' team had promised future updates to the mode, but the initial release appeared to have fallen flat with fans."
Sales
Despite the mixed critical reception and controversy, EA announced that sales of ''Madden NFL 21'' were up 20% compared to the previous year's installment in its first week of release. From August 30 to October 3, 2020, it was the third best-selling game in the U.S.
References
{{Portal bar, American football, Video games, border=no
2020 video games
EA Sports games
Frostbite (game engine) games
Madden NFL
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation 5 games
Stadia games
Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Kris Bowers
Video games set in the United States
Windows games
Xbox One games
Xbox Series X and Series S games