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It has been nearly a year since EA and Google made their relationship official with the promise of five games coming to the Stadia platform at some point in the future. The first title, STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order, dropped last November but sports fans were left wanting with no official release date for EA SPORTS™ FIFA and Madden NFL. What’s more, EA never actually said which version of the Madden franchise would actually come to Google’s cloud gaming service. This week, two of these questions have been answered.
In a press release, EA and the NFL have announced a collaboration to bring football fans a the virtual Pro Bowl: The Madden NFL 21 Edition. In conjunction with the event that streams live on Sunday, Madden NFL 21 will launch for Stadia on Thursday, January 28th.
The Pro Bowl: The Madden NFL 21 Edition Presented by Verizon will featureSnoop Dogg, Deshaun Watson, Derrick Henry and Keyshawn Johnson competing for the AFC, while Bubba Wallace, Marshawn Lynch, Kyler Murray and Jamal Adams will play for the NFC. The two star-studded teams, featuring 2021 Pro Bowl QBs as team leads, will play in Madden NFL 21 from their homes using the official Pro Bowl rosters with a new competitor tapping in to play each quarter. Emmy winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and Charissa Thompson will host the Sunday event with popular streamers Ninja, FaZe Swagg, AustinShow and AMP also hosting live watch parties on their channels Sunday at 5pm EST. The event will reair primetime at 8pm ET on NFL Network and again at 12:30am ET.
Electronic Arts
This will be the first game launched for Stadia that was developed on the cross-platform Frostbite game engine. To celebrate the Madden NFL 21 Pro Bowl and the release of the game on Stadia, EA is offering up four days of free play for users on all platforms. Free play begins tomorrow and runs through the 31st. At the end of the free trial weekend, users on all platforms can purchase Madden NFL 21: Superstar Edition at a 60% discount through February 8.
EA and Google are still tight-lipped about when FIFA will land on Stadia and we have no idea what the other two titles will be from the gaming giants. Personally, I’m just stoked to finally see Madden arrive on Google’s gaming service. In general, I’m not big on sports games. I’m more of a shoot ’em up kinda guy. That said, there are sport franchise games that I will always make a little time for on my gaming schedule. One being any form of Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Seriously. I”m a beast. Just saying. The other? Madden NFL. I’m not great but I love to play some football. IRL or digital, I’ll toss the pigskin with you anytime and this weekend, you can find me in-game on Stadia playing Madden NFL 21. Hit me up. IGN: Nephilim777
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