With everyone missing sport, the 2020 NFL draft was welcomed last week. Amongst the media frenzy, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson accidentally revealed he will be the cover star for Madden 21.
But this was all we heard regarding the next installment of the historic franchise. We expected them to drop a trailer with some gameplay teasers and a release date - but this didn't happen.
So what happens now?
EA Sports usually announces the new Madden games during the Draft. They did this in 2019, sharing the Patrick Mahomes cover and new gameplay elements in Face of the franchise and Superstar X-Factors.
Why didn't they launch Madden 21?
There's a few reasons that could have caused a delay in the announcement. With the Lamar Jackson leak, some of the gloss had been taken off the grand reveal.
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It's possible that EA decided to pause and let that sink in, before adjusting the launch material to reflect the fact fans now know the cover star.
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Another factor could be the Coronavirus outbreak. With this forcing many people to work from home, this could have slowed down or changed the marketing plans. This would be more worrying for fans, as this could affect a potential release date.
When could a launch come?
Unfortunately, both E3 and EA Play have been canceled. These are typically events where we can find out more about the new release so this leaves the door wide open to where we will hear more about Madden 21.
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As this is the year of next-gen consoles, they are also heavily affected by these delays. We are slowly hearing more about the PS5 and Xbox Series X from smaller announcements.
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There's potentially an opportunity to tie in a Madden 21 announcement alongside a console event.
With the push for everyone to work more remotely, the attention is now focused on social media. EA can create a new marketing strategy to slowly release details over the Summer before an expected August release date.