Madden NFL 21's Closed Beta Begins Tonight, Here's How To (Maybe) Get A Code

The Madden NFL 21 closed beta is about to begin. EA Sports has confirmed that the beta test runs this 4th of July holiday weekend--from July 2 at 8:30 PM ET through Sunday, July 5 at 11:59 PM ET.

This beta will be double the audience size of the Madden NFL 20 beta last year, EA said in a blog post. To get in, you needed to have signed up for the Good Morning Madden link in June. Additionally, almost everyone who earned points from the Madden Championship Series will get a code sent to their email. On top of that, if you finished in the top 10,000 players in Madden NFL 20's Ultimate Team and Franchise modes, based on play time, you will receive an invitation.

If you don't fit any of those criteria, you can follow Madden NFL 21's social media accounts and watch for a giveaway there. Additionally, the game's developers, along with influencers, creators, athletes, and NFL teams, will give away codes. Note that the beta is only available in the US and Canada. EA did not announce a list of platforms for the Madden NFL 21 beta, but the game is confirmed to release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC in August before coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X later in the year.

If you do get into the beta, you can try out the Play Now mode with four teams: the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Atlanta Falcons. Online head-to-head play is also available.

EA Sports is forbidding people from recording, streaming, or in any way capturing their gameplay footage. Players who do this will be booted from the beta.

Madden NFL 21 introduces some major changes to how the game controls this year, particularly on the ball-carrier side, and developers are using the beta test to see what people think of the new setup. If the response is negative, EA Sports might roll back the changes, the developers said.

EA also mentioned previously that it is not able to host an open beta, though the developer never explained why.

Madden NFL 21 launches on August 28 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but you can play early through the MVP Edition. Additionally, everyone who buys Madden NFL 21 on PS4 or Xbox One can redeem a free upgrade to PS5 or Xbox Series X until the release of Madden NFL 22 in 2021.