Madden 22 Early Access Countdown to Release Time

Madden 22 Early Access has officially begun! That means certain players can get started today, and won't have to wait for launch!

We've got all the details on when Madden 22 Early Access went live and whether you still have time to get Early Access with a pre order!

Latest - Early Access goes live!

For anyone who snagged Madden 22 Early Access by placing a pre order for the MVP or Dynasty Edition, the wait is over!

Madden 22 Early Access is now live, and you can hit the virtual gridiron right away. Make sure not to miss out on the exclusive Early Access Challenges in MUT 22.

It's also been announced that the EA Play Trial will continue for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and EA Play subscribers on Xbox, allowing those who haven't placed a pre order to continue trying the game until 11:59pm ET on August 17.

That means there's just a little more time left to test things out, and if you're hooked you can still place your pre order today and activate Early Access to keep playing before launch day.

Madden 22 Early Access: Countdown to Release Time & Date

Madden 22 launched with a 10-hour time restricted EA Play Trial, but for players who placed a pre order for the MVP or Dynasty Edition, that 10 hours won't last long.

Madden 22 is set for an official release date of August 20, 2021, but certain players are getting Early Access to start (or continue) the fun even sooner.

The official release time for Madden 22 Early Access was midnight ET on August 20, 2021, or 11pm CT on August 19, 2021.

Unlike the uncertainty of the trial release, this time was confirmed via the Microsoft website and lines up with what we were expecting.

While the game was available at that time, many wanted to make sure it was fully downloaded well before if they were hoping to play at midnight.

How to Pre-Load & Download Size

Madden 22 will follow the trend of sports games being some of the largest download files around in gaming, but you can counter that by making sure the game is fully downloaded before Early Access begins.

If you're on Xbox, things are easier than ever before thanks to a loophole via the Xbox mobile app on your phone.

If you've connected the app and made it possible to initiate downloads on your console with the app, you can actually search for Madden 22 right now and start downloading the game.

If you're having issues with that method, pre-load via the console is expected to be live on August 15, giving you a few days to make sure things are in order before Early Access begins.

The same date should be when pre-load goes live for PS4 and PS5, but with issues plaguing the trial launch, there's always the possibility of hiccups here as well.

As for download size, we know that the full version of the game released as an EA Play Trial comes in at 48.96 GB on PS4 and 55.4 GB on Xbox Series X|S.

We don't have exact download size for PS5, Xbox One, or PC, but you can expect them to all be very close to this 50 GB range.

Keep in mind that there is often a Day One Patch, most likely arriving either with Early Access or with the worldwide launch on August 20, and at times those can range from as little as a few gigabytes to nearly the same size as the core game.

If you wanna be sure nothing will interfere with you playing Madden 22 the moment Early Access begins, try to clear room or at least keep in mind that more storage space could be needed once the Day One Patch arrives.