Madden: Why Such a Big Deal?

With well over 300 million citizens, the US has the world's third largest population, a majority of which watch American football. It's a golden market for EA to tap into. According to a recent internal study at Electronic Arts, male NFL fans between the ages of 12 and 49 with a HD console in their house are more likely than not to own a recent version of Madden; a claim that EA says no other sports game in the US can make about the relationship between their game and the sport it recreates. One-half of Madden HD owners have purchased more than one version of the franchise in the past three years.

And EA has clearly benefited from the fact that the cultural significance of the sport has only grown in America in recent years.

"I think that the Madden phenomenon is an interesting case study all around. Europeans may not really 'get it' when it comes to Madden because they don't quite realise just how important the NFL has become to American culture. The NFL is bigger here than Premier League Football and all of the sub-leagues are in the UK," noted Chris Sanner, executive features editor for OperationSports.com, a leading sports video games website.

Madden NFL is the perfect cross-section of the football fan and gamer, both hardcore and mass market

Anthony Stevenson, EA Sports

Sports are stereotypically a male passion, but American Football frequently crosses the gender line, with some women getting into just as much as their boyfriends or spouses.

"Between fantasy football being played in almost every office and just the old fashioned fans of teams -the NFL has exploded in popularity in this country. When you have females arguing over who to pick up on their fantasy team this week in a largely male sport, you know you are doing something right," Sanner remarked.

He continued, "I think Madden is the benefactor of that kind of fervour towards the NFL along with sufficient game quality and timely marketing. Few games can enjoy the yearly success Madden does on launch day, which makes it even more puzzling."

Indeed, some believe annual releases are nothing more than roster updates with little in the way of changes to gameplay, but fans continue to eat it up.

"At some point, you'd think fans would get tired of the product because it hasn't exactly been gangbusters," Sanner added. "I reviewed Madden for OS this year and rated it as a 'good but not great' game. I think that's fit Madden thus far this generation. The presentation is still behind its peers despite a huge leap forward this year, its gameplay is deeply flawed but still fun - especially for the forgiving football fan, and its game modes have just now really taken a turn towards something we can call 'next-gen'."

It's worth noting that for American football fans, Madden is the only game in town. At least for other sports, you'll see titles from two or more developers. EA eliminated that problem in 2005, however, when the company secured exclusive rights to the NFL - just at a time when rival NFL2K was gaining steam for its high quality gameplay too. The move may have backfired among some die-hard fans, but to the average American, Madden was, and still is, king.

Zach Farley, the 'ultimate Madden fan' who's been playing Madden professionally since 2005 and has won numerous Major League Gaming and EA Sports tournaments, explained the Madden phenomenon as one that brings friends together - something that ultimately the best and most addictive video games do.

"Madden NFL is all about competition, friendships and being the best year after year," he said. "In college, my partner from Prima Madden, SGibs, and I started travelling up and down the east coast to play in Madden NFL tournaments, we met some great people along the way and really increased our skill level. Now that we are older, Madden is a great outlet to compete against friends and continually keep the competitive juices flowing. Basketball and football cause us soreness for days, but hopping online for some Madden means we can connect with anyone in the world and instantly recapture the adrenaline.