Madden NFL 21 Coming To Steam For The First Time

The powerhouse Madden franchise from EA Sports is coming to Steam for the first time ever.

As announced in a press release from Electronic Arts, “Madden NFL 21,” this year’s edition of the popular American football video game series, will be released on the digital storefront of Valve. Prior to this, Madden games were released on PC through EA’s own Origin store, Gamespot reports.

All editions of “Madden NFL 21” will be available on Steam. This includes the standard edition, the Deluxe Edition, the MVP Edition, and the various pre-order bonuses offered. This was confirmed on a product page for the title on Steam.

Taking its name from Pro Football Hall of Fame Oakland Raiders coach and football analyst John Madden, “John Madden Football” was actually first released in 1988 and only on the PC. The same title was then made available on the Sega Genesis and SNES two years later.

As the game grew in popularity, the series was rebranded as “Madden NFL 95” for the Genesis and SNES and has subsequently gotten bigger across multiple consoles.

While “Madden NFL 21” is coming to Steam, players who buy it there will still need to install Origin and use it in the background, the Steam page says. Players also need to have an EA Account.

Madden's move to Steam might be part of a wider campaign by EA to release more of its games on Steam, notes Gamespot. Recently, EA also announced that numerous other games, including multiple “Battlefield” titles, “Mass Effect 3,” and “Star Wars: Battlefront II,” have arrived on Steam. There is a dedicated landing page for EA games on Steam for people to see everything there is to offer.

“Madden NFL 21” launches on August 28 for PC, as well as PS4 and Xbox One. The game is also coming to Xbox Series X (with a special free upgrade promo), as well as presumably PS5. Last year’s NFL Most Valuable Player, quarterback Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, was just revealed as the latest cover athlete for the franchise. The MVP and Deluxe Editions of “Madden NFL 21” will allow players to play the game three days early beginning on August 25.