The star of the cover of Madden NFL 23 is … John Madden himself.
Hall of Fame coach, announcer and namesake of the longest EA Sports series died on December 28, 2021, at the age of 85. Madden NFL 23 will remember him with three different covers, representing the legacies he left in the NFL, television, and video games.
“There are so many ways we’re trying to live up to, aspire to the legend that coach Madden was in our game this year,” said Mike Mahar, senior producer at EA Tiburon for the Madden NFL series told the media last week. in an event to preview and reveal the cover of the next game.
Madden NFL 23’s “first interactive experience”, playable as the game sets in, will feature two generations of All-Madden NFL stars, both coached by Madden as he appeared in different periods. his career. The game is played in a retrospective performance at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, where Madden led the Oakland Raiders to a 103-32-7 record from 1969 to 1978.
On one cover, Madden is in the Rose Bowl celebrating his Oakland Raiders 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. In the second, he wears a headset and writes passing patterns on the viewer’s screen; Madden was an analyst for the four live channels that aired NFL games from 1979 to 2008.
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Image: Electronic Arts
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Image: Electronic Arts
The cover of Madden NFL’s All Madden 23 edition is a tribute to the cover of Madden’s first title, John Madden Football, published by Electronic Arts in 1988. Adapted from Philadelphia artist Chuck Styles, Madden explodes through a game book full of X and O, like the Kool-Aid Man of professional football.
Image: Electronic Arts
“A widespread theme this year is to live up to the standard and the coach’s passion for 11-on-11 football is genuine,” Mahar said. Madden turned down the first release of Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins to make a football video game in 1984, unless he put two 11-player teams on the field, which video games still had to deliver. in that moment. But developer Robin Antonick and producer Mike Ybarra committed to that standard, and four years later EA released John Madden Football for Apple II.
John Madden last appeared on the cover of the main edition of Madden NFL with Madden NFL 2000 in 1999. (He was on the cover of the Madden NFL 07 Hall of Fame edition). first name. In 2000, EA Sports began the tradition of choosing a new NFL player each year. The only stars with multiple covers, apart from Madden himself, are Barry Sanders (Madden NFL 2000 and Madden NFL 25), and Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, who starred in Madden NFL 22 last year after appearing on the covers. of Madden NFL. 18 and Madden NFL 20, respectively.
Madden NFL 23 is expected to premiere in August, before the start of the NFL regular season, on PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles.