BARRY SANDERS NAMED AS COVER ATHLETE FOR
MADDEN NFL 25 AND FIRST GAME DETAILS RELEASED
Madden NFL 25 to Unlock the Power, Precision, and Creativity of the NFL Ball Carrier
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – April 25, 2013 – Yesterday
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and ESPN announced that after six rounds and a record-breaking 40 million votes, Barry Sanders stands triumphant as the cover athlete for
Madden NFL 25. The results were revealed during a 1 hour primetime special on
SportsNation on ESPN 2 last night, when Old School bracket champion Barry Sanders defeated New School bracket winner Adrian Peterson by taking 58% of the final vote. Last night also marked the debut of the
Madden NFL 25 Run Free trailer.
During his run to the cover, Sanders triumphed over a who’s who of NFL legends, including Ray Lewis, Marcus Allen, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. Sanders’ win is historic in many ways, as not only will he be appearing on the cover of the 25
th anniversary of the
Madden NFL franchise, but he is the first athlete ever to appear on back-to-back covers after sharing the
NCAA Football 13 box with Robert Griffin III last year. This also marks the first time players from the same team have secured consecutive covers as Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson, Jr. appeared on the cover of
Madden NFL 13.
“The
Madden NFL franchise has such a rich tradition and history, and there’s no better way to celebrate our 25
thAnniversary than by having one of the best players of all-time on the cover,” said Anthony Stevenson, Senior Director of Marketing for EA SPORTS. “Barry Sanders has long been a fan favorite, so we’re proud to have him as the face of
Madden NFL 25.”
Following the cover reveal, the first two playbooks in the
Madden NFL 25 Playbook series were revealed: “
Run Free” and “
Infinity Engine 2.” This year’s game celebrates 25 years of innovation and unlocks the power, precision, and creativity of the NFL ball carrier. Whether you’re a slashing running back, dual-threat QB, or ball-hawking safety, fans will be able unleash 30 new moves and string together devastating combos with the all-new precision modifier.
Year two of the award-winning Infinity Engine brings both a more polished physics simulation and introduces the all-new Force Impact System. Power moves including the Hit Stick, trucking, dive tackle and stiff-arm have been completely redesigned to harness the full potential of Infinity Engine 2, giving you more control over the outcome of a play than ever before.
Infinity Engine 2 also introduces a suite of new features and improvements, including hard run cutting for more natural changes of direction, user-controlled stumble recovery, improved run blocking, new post-play logic and more.
On defense, new tackle pursuit angles and “breakdown” behavior create a more authentic defensive experience. Defenders can now utilize hard cuts to recover quickly when caught out of position to get back into the play, and the introduction heat-seeker tackling, special lunge tackles and more accurate dive tackles create the ultimate game of cat-and-mouse between the offense and defense.
Additional
Madden NFL 25 details will be released in the following playbooks on the following dates:
·
Playbook #3: Connected Franchise Part 1 (
to be released 5/6) –Cement your legacy as one of the all-time great NFL players or coaches in the new and improved Connected Franchise.
·
Playbook #4: Connected Franchise Part 2 (
to be released 5/20) – Take ultimate control of your franchise.
·
Playbook #5: Madden Share (
to be released 6/24) – The best content from around the
Madden NFLuniverse, right at your fingertips.
·
Playbook #6: Madden Ultimate Team (
to be released 7/1)
–Enjoy new ways to play and build your team in this year’s edition of Ultimate Team.
·
Playbook #7: All-25 (
to be released 7/8) - Your voice. Your choice. Celebrating 25 years of
Madden NFL’s best of the best.
Embraced by fans and honored by critics for 25 years,
Madden NFL is known as the NFL’s “33
rd Franchise” due to its authentic gameplay, the development team’s unparalleled access to NFL resources and its prominent place in NFL culture.