Madden NFL 13 to put franchise "right up there" with FIFA, NHL

News by Brenna Hillier Contributor

Published on Aug. 7, 2012

Madden NFL 13 will pack in significantly more innovation than recent entries in the series, which weren't quite up to snuff, according to EA Sports boss Andrew Wilson.

Speaking to GamesIndustry, Wilson said the last few Madden games haven't done enough to grow and change year on year.

"I do believe that Madden did not have the level of innovation that some of our other franchises have had," he said.

While Wilson said EA Tiburon was "still doing great things" and producing "significantly more than roster updates", he believes Madden NFL 13 is a huge step up in terms of taking the series out of a lacklustre annual iteration cycle.

"I look at the budget, time and hours going into making those games. I look at the team this year and they made a concerted effort to put Madden right up there with FIFA, NHL and Fight Night Champion," he said.

"They want to leave no doubt with fans that this is the most amazing Madden ever built. Based on what I've seen from the reaction I'm seeing from press, I think they've come very, very close to sealing that. Certainly by the time we launch, when we finish with the polish and all that, we'll have delivered."

The executive said Madden NFL 13 represents "without a doubt" the largest investment EA Sports has made in the series to date, and that the "core gameplay team is 50% bigger this year than it was last year" - but it's worth the extra resources the publisher has diverted Madden's way.

"We recognize a need to fundamentally innovate in Madden," he said.

"Our expectation is that when you focus on building great games for the consumer, everything else takes care of itself. In all honesty we haven't spent a lot of time yet looking at our financial expectations, what are our targets and objectives? The entire team is focused on building the best Madden ever. Our expectation is that if we do that, everything will take care of itself."

Madden NFL 13 releases on August 28 for PlayStation 3, Vita, Wii and Xbox 360, with a Wii U version to follow.