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It's one of the hottest-selling games every year, and somehow Microsoft and EA hashed out a deal to provide it free-of-charge to new buyers.

Christian Nutt, Contributor

August 5, 2014

1 Min Read

Newsbrief: Polygon reports that an Xbox One bundle including a downloadable version of Madden NFL 15 will be released on August 26, the same day the game hits the shelves. Interestingly, the Kinect-free bundle will retail for $399 -- meaning Madden will be free for new system adopters. Madden is perennially one of the best-selling video game franchises in the U.S., so seeing a next-gen edition of the game go for no cost in an attempt to attract new buyers to the Xbox One is interesting -- and a competitive edge for Microsoft heading into the fall. EA and Microsoft have enjoyed a close partnership since before the Xbox One's launch. FIFA was a pack-in title in Europe, and had exclusive content on the Xbox One that was not available on PlayStation 4; EA and Respawn Entertainment's Titanfall is a console exclusive for Xbox platforms; recently, EA launched a subscription program called EA Access exclusively for Xbox One (Sony turned EA down on that front.)

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