Madden NFL 25 Is Over 10 Years Old, But Madden 25 Could Also Be Announced This Week

A predicament over a decade in the making will come to a head this year, and Electronic Arts has no one to blame but itself. In 2013, Madden NFL 25 was released and named as such to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the football video game franchise. However, now that it's time for the actual 2025 edition of the title, this year's entry could sport the exact same name.

Earlier this week, a new leak reported that Madden NFL 25 will be announced tomorrow, May 16, with a release date of August 16--with early access for the Deluxe Edition or EA Play subscribers. For those unfamiliar, the football franchise features the year for when the NFL season ends instead of the year the game comes out. An untitled Madden documentary was unveiled to be in the works for Prime Video this week, too.

EA revealed Madden NFL 25 in January 2013, meaning the game skipped being called Madden NFL 14 with that entry. Marking the franchise's quarter-century milestone, NFL legend Barry Sanders was named the cover star for that game after winning a voting contest. The former Detroit Lions running back beat out other Hall of Famers like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.

If this year's edition goes ahead with Madden NFL 25 as well, it wouldn't be the first time EA has used the same exact name for a video game. For instance, the publisher had no problem launching Need for Speed in 2015 (a reboot) or even Need for Speed: Most Wanted in 2012, separate from the same-named game in 2005. Additionally, Activision Blizzard has gotten into this habit recently with the Modern Warfare subseries in Call of Duty. Other high-profile titles following this format include God of War (2018) and Saints Row (2022).

With that in mind, it's likely EA just goes ahead with Madden NFL 25. Over a decade has passed since the 25th-anniversary edition, and it's not like that version is available these days to confuse consumers. It shouldn't be long to find out for sure, though.