The release of this year's
Madden title will come on August 30, slightly later than expected, "to align closer to the start of the NFL regular season," according to
a tweet from EA Sports PR rep Rob Semsey.
The announcement comes as NFL team owners and players inch towards arbitration to settle a contract dispute that could delay or cancel the professional season, which is officially set to start September 8.
EA has long-promised to bring out a
Madden NFL title this year regardless of the status of any NFL lockout, though the threat of a delayed or cancelled season
reportedly won EA reduced licensing fees from the NFL.
Recent
Madden titles have come out in the first half of August, during pre-season NFL play that precedes an early September start to the official league schedule. A later release this year could allow EA more time to adjust team rosters thrown into flux by a delayed free agency period, and cushion the marketing impact of any delay in the pro season's planned start.
In an early February conference call,
EA CEO John Riccitiello said the company had "baked in the most conservative assumption, meaning no [NFL] season," when planning for the financial impact of any contract dispute. "We're optimistic it can be better than that, so there's an upside," he said at the time.
EA
expanded a fan-voting program to select the
Madden cover athlete this year, pitting selected players from all 32 NFL teams in a single-elimination bracket.
[
UPDATE: Operation Sports' Chase Becotte cites Semsey
in reporting that the August 30 release date is effective for future annual
Madden releases as well.]
