Though the partnership has been in the works for some time according to NFL Vice President and Head of Gaming and esports Rachel Hoagland (per IGN), very little information outside of the partnership’s existence was provided.
The last game in the NFL 2K franchise was NFL 2K5 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It released in July 2004. All-Pro Football 2K8 was released in 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a spiritual successor to the mainline NFL 2K games. Only one game was in the series was ever developed. In a press release regarding the new partnership, EA said that it remains “the exclusive publisher of NFL simulation games, and our partnership with the NFL and NFLPA remains unchanged.“According to the developer, Madden 20 has most successful game in the franchise. Though no hard sales numbers were provided, Madden 20 was the most-downloaded game on PS4 in August. It has also been in the NPD’s Top 5 best-selling games since release.
In our review of Madden 20, Mark Delaney praised the game for its story mode, MUT mode, and X-Factors, saying that “the major changes this year mostly feel like course corrections for past mistakes, but they’re the building blocks of a contender for years to come.“Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more on the upcoming NFL 2K games, as well as EA’s Madden franchise.
