Madden NFL
| Madden NFL | |
|---|---|
Madden NFL series logo (2020–present) | |
| Genre | Sports (American football) |
| Developers | EA Orlando Visual Concepts High Score Productions Blue Sky Productions Electronic Arts D.C. True, Ltd. Park Place Productions Bethesda Softworks Halestorm Tiertex Design Studios Stormfront Studios Exient Entertainment Budcat Creations Floodgate Entertainment infiniteMonkeys Hudson Soft |
| Publishers | EA Sports THQ Black Pearl Software Malibu Games Hudson Soft |
| Platforms | Amiga, Super NES, Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Gear, 3DO, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Windows, macOS, MS-DOS, PlayStation, PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Saturn, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, iOS, Nintendo 3DS, Android, BlackBerry PlayBook, Arcade, Nintendo Switch 2 |
| First release | John Madden Football June 1, 1988 |
| Latest release | Madden NFL 26 August 14, 2025 |
Madden NFL (known as John Madden Football until 1993) is an American football sports video game series developed by EA Orlando for EA Sports. The franchise, named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden, had sold over 150 million copies as of 2021. From 2004 until 2022, it was the only officially licensed National Football League (NFL) video game series, and has influenced many players and coaches of the physical sport. Among the series' features are detailed playbooks and player statistics and voice commentary in the style of a real NFL television broadcast. As of 2013 the franchise had generated over $4 billion in sales, making it one of the most profitable video game franchises on the market.
Electronic Arts (EA) founder Trip Hawkins conceived the series and approached Madden in 1984 for his endorsement and expertise. Because of Madden's insistence that the game be as realistic as possible, the first version of John Madden Football did not appear until 1988. EA has released annual versions since 1990 with the number used in each release generally representing the year after the game's release date; for example, Madden NFL 2005 was released in 2004, ahead of the 2004 NFL season.