EA’s Madden NFL game will move into its second official installment for next-generation consoles with the release of Madden NFL 22 in the coming months. Fans will be winding down their Ultimate Team roster building and looking ahead to what’s next. They’re also hoping for much-needed improvements to gameplay and Franchise mode. Ahead of the new game, we look at the potential Madden NFL 22 release date as well as VGR’s latest cover star predictions.
Who will the cover star be for Madden NFL 22?
With the Madden 21 cover, it was a no-brainer for EA to choose the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson. The reigning NFL MVP made a fitting cover star based on his previous season and even seemed to shatter that dreaded Madden curse.
Lamar didn’t have any season-ending injuries or issues this past season and led the Ravens (11-4) back to the playoffs. He didn’t quite win a Super Bowl like Madden 20 cover star Patrick Mahomes, but continued to play well and will look towards future success.
Meanwhile, one man proved once again why he is the G.O.A.T. in football, and possibly in the four major sports. Tom Brady, playing in his first year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led them to a Super Bowl championship for his seventh ring. That seems to make Mr. Brady a top choice to be the Madden NFL 22 cover star. He previously appeared on the Madden 18 cover after winning his fifth title with the New England Patriots. There’s no reason he wouldn’t appear again.
The 🐐.#Madden18 drops August 25th. Reserve your copy: https://t.co/qMgP03bOWg pic.twitter.com/isbRcevu4F
— Madden NFL 21 (@EAMaddenNFL) May 12, 2017
Prior to Brady doing Brady things and making history again, there appeared to be another rumored frontrunner for the Madden NFL 22 cover. That was Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry. In the 2020 season, he tallied 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns, both of which led the league and were career-bests for the Titans star.
It’s still possible that Madden could put Henry on the cover, or release multiple editions with different cover stars. If that’s the case, they could do something similar to NBA 2K21. The game featured Damian Lillard as Current Gen cover star, Zion Williamson as Next-Gen cover star, and a special Mamba Forever edition with the late Kobe Bryant on the cover.
When might the game’s release date be?
The year 2020 brought challenges for game development companies as many employees had to work remotely, mostly from home, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, there was likely more of the same, but also more employees began returning to workplaces. The Madden NFL 22 release date might be something similar to what we saw with Madden 21.
Madden NFL 21 was released on August 28, 2020, for the current-gen consoles, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The next-generation edition of the game was released on December 4, 2020, in conjunction with the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S consoles.
Previous Madden releases included August 2, 2019 (Madden 20) and August 10, 2018 (Madden 19). So it’s entirely possible that fans could see an early August 2021 release date for the next installment in the franchise.
Gamers were eligible for a Dual Entitlement promotion with Madden 21. With the promo, customers who purchased the game for current-gen consoles could upgrade free of charge to the next-gen edition. It’s unknown if a similar deal will exist when the Madden NFL 22 release date arrives.
Visit VGR’s Madden page to stay updated on more developments for the upcoming game.