Following the reveal of Madden NFL 21 during May's Inside Xbox broadcast, EA confirmed that Xbox One versions of the game would be upgraded to the Xbox Series X version for free until March 31, 2021. Now, the company has revealed that it has extended the offer until the release of Madden NFL 22.
The program EA is using is called "Next Level", and will now ensure that players who buy the Xbox One game before December 31, 2020 will get a free next-gen upgrade throughout the entire Madden 21 season.
"During our recent Inside Xbox announce, we included some dates limiting this Dual Entitlement approach. Having listened to our players response we’re extending the offer all the way through our Madden 21 season up to the release of Madden NFL 22, so players can upgrade to Madden NFL 21 on Xbox Series X whenever they first purchase their new console within that period."
EA had planned to unveil a first look at Madden NFL 21 earlier this week before the event was postponed indefinitely. The company hasn't revealed a new date as of yet, but there's a good chance we may learn more at the upcoming EA Play Live 2020 event on June 18th.
Are you pleased EA is extending the Next Level offer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
[source ea.com]
Comments 7
Thats cool of them to make that adjustment. Won't effect me personally but definitely a good move imo!
Holy crap!!
Mark it on our calendars! EA made a consumer friendly move!
I play Madden, so this will be awesome that they embraced Microsoft’s Smart Delivery program. 👍🏻
This is still [bleep].
If I cared for football games I would just not buy the game until the XSX was out.
I mean, they are saying they won’t use smart delivery and instead will just, temporarily, give players access to the game? What if I happened to think the next two or 5 years of the series goes down the hill, I won’t be able to just keep playing my older copy?
Not that most people play older sports games, but we all know: they are going to do this for all their games.
I hope MS does not allow them to somehow break BC on top of this. Can you imagine if suddenly Fallen Order stops working because they decided to release a XSX exclusive remaster?
@KelticDevil so far they have not stated they will adopt smart delivery, just that they will let you play the XSX version for free a bit longer before taking it away. It’s not even that you get the upgrade permanently if you play by some deadline.
I also wonder what this means for save files. Part of the deal with smart delivery, as I understand it, is that the save file seamlessly transfers between generations even if we keep the older Xbox to play on a different room. What will that mean for EAs weird “temp free” program?
@Tharsman
Ok, you can’t compare Fallen Order to Madden. Madden has a ridiculous amount of timed licenses involved with the music & the NFL itself. So it has to be done from year to year, I am sure, under the contract.
It’s the same thing with racing games. You don’t see the original Forza Horizon on Game Pass. Why? Because of licensing issues with the music & the cars.
@KelticDevil if I buy a copy of madden tomorrow, it will work forever (sure, offline is a separate mater since servers will eventually stop service.)
The way licensing works means they need to stop selling, but smart delivery is not about selling (so far as we been told) but about getting a different binary (and files) installed on your Xbox. As far as I understand what MS has described, once you buy an Xbox game that supports smart delivery, you acquired both, an XBox One and XSX license.
EA, so far, has only announced one title for XSX and it’s not using smart delivery. EA being EA, I’m concerned they will just be their old selves and just do their own thing.
@Tharsman
I know how licenses work. But you would be the first person I have met that plays old Madden games.
But you do you. 👍🏻
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