EA Sports is working on a new open-world soccer game, seemingly separate from Madden and College Football.
In a new letter about the future of EA, the company outlined what’s on the horizon for its various portfolios. For its sports games, the publisher reaffirmed that it is working on an all-new Fight Night game, which will be EA’s first boxing game in over a decade. However, the most interesting announcement is that EA is working on a new open-world soccer game called “Project Gridiron.”
“We have two new projects in development that you’ll be hearing about over the coming months, including a brand new open-world social experience for our American Football team that we’re calling ‘Project Gridiron,'” EA said. “And we are also in pre-production to bring back a beloved and fan-favorite game in Fight Night, leveraging the capabilities of our combat simulation team.”
It’s unclear if Project Gridiron will have any sort of narrative or if its open world will be a shared online universe, much like NBA 2K. Would this be a more mature and realistic football game, similar to what Fight Night Champion did for this series? It’s hard to say at the moment. Madden briefly dabbled in narrative campaigns in the mid-to-late 2010s with decent results, but ultimately refocused on a broader career mode for those looking for a progressive single-player experience.
With a new college football set to release next year according to previous statements from EA Sports, the existence of Project Gridiron raises the question of whether or not Madden will be benched in favor of this new game.
After all, does anyone have the time, money, or interest in three EA-developed soccer games in a single year? It’s also possible that this is a complete transformation of the Madden experience, but it feels like something completely new. It looks like we won’t have to wait too long, because as EA noted, we’ll learn more about the game in the “coming months.” Maybe we’ll hear about it at The Game Awards or in early 2027, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
A recent report also noted that there are internal concerns about the future of college football as rising NIL rights costs, in addition to other licensing and development expenses, create friction. Sales of the series have reportedly declined year over year, leading some developers to worry that the franchise’s return will be relatively short-lived. Perhaps Project Gridiron could replace college football in the future.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. It covers all things entertainment, including games, movies, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
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