With the same regularity as September kickoffs and offseason suspensions for banned substances, EA announced Madden NFL 19 today at its EA Play event ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show in Los Angeles — and it’s back on PC.
PC was the first home of John Madden Football when it launched back in 1988 for MS-DOS computers, Apple II, and Commodore 64.
CEO Andrew Wilson made the announcement of Madden coming to PC while talking about EA’s new Origin Premier subscription service.
The trailer shows the New York Giants playing the Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Later on, wide receiver Ju-Ju Smith Schuster of the Pittsburgh Steelers joined Madden NFL 18 esports champ Shay “Young Kiv” Klaven onstage. Kiv talked about how he hurt his arm when he was playing baseball in high school and turned to Madden.
Over at USGamer, editor-in-chief Kat Bailey reports that Madden 19 won’t have run-pass options, which were a key component in the Eagles’ Super Bowl run and are one of the “in” formations in the NFL these days.
Last season was the first time EA ran Madden NFL off the Frostbite engine, giving it a performance-enhancing boost to its visuals and other details.
Madden NFL 19 is the king of the gridiron, in part because it’s the only pro football game with league licensing, thanks to a long-held deal between EA and the NFL. And it’s an important part of EA’s bottom line, as market research firm analyst Mat Piscatella of The NPD Group notes.
US NPD @ #E32018 – Electronic Arts was the second best-selling publisher of 2017 in US full game dollar sales, with 4 games among the year's top 20 best-selling titles: Madden NFL 18 (#4), Star Wars: Battlefront II (#8), FIFA 18 (#12) and Mass Effect: Andromeda (#16).
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) June 9, 2018
Madden NFL 19 ruled August, its debut month, though that again was no surprise as it was the most noteworthy release at the end of summer.
