While Madden NFL used to be a mainstay on Nintendo platforms, the series has been absent from its consoles for nearly a decade. According to a recent job listing at EA, however, that may finally be changing.
EA's long-running football simulation series continues to sell well, despite overt criticism from what seems like a majority of its player base. The franchise's latest iteration, Madden NFL 21, drew heavy complaints from players, giving the game an egregiously low score on Metacritic. The title's glitched physics, various gameplay bugs and an overall perceived lack of polish at launch led it to be listed as one of the most disappointing games of 2020, with fans at one point getting the hashtag NFLDropEA to trend on Twitter.
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Discovery of the Madden NFL franchise returning to Nintendo comes from Youtuber Doctre81, who found the job listing in question for an "Online Software Engineer - (C++) - Madden," which dates back to November 2020. Upon further inspection, one of the sections under job requirements asks for two years of experience working on "Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo game consoles." While it may not be too much to go off of, previous similar job listings at EA haven't mentioned Nintendo as part of their criteria. The last time the series had a presence on any Nintendo platform was Madden NFL 13 on the Wii U. Back in 2018, EA had said they didn't plan on bringing the series to the Switch, but the industry giant appears to be changing its tune with the hybrid system.
Should the theory behind the job listing be accurate, it would signal an ongoing shift in the relationship between the big N and Electronic Arts, with several of its franchises becoming available on the portable console. The company has ported its free-to-play battle royale title Apex Legends to Switch. Unfortunately, the console's lack of processing power compared to its Xbox, PlayStation, and PC counterparts has led many fans to vent about the Apex Switch port. Muddy graphics, poor textures, and lowered framerates have turned many fans off from trying to play the fast-paced FPS on the platform.
However, Nintendo does reportedly have an answer and one that could explain how and why Madden may be returning. While it's yet to be officially confirmed by Nintendo, rumored details about Switch Pro hardware could be what facilitates more graphics-intensive titles coming to the platform. Rumored to support 4K graphic capabilities along with NVIDIA DLSS technology, the Switch Pro should theoretically give the system the boost it needs to be able to handle the higher demand of such titles.
While it may not be until the release of a new Switch model, Madden NFL returning to the Nintendo platform is certainly a big deal. However, it may be a long while given that Madden titles launch in August, and the new Switch isn't expected until the holidays. For now, gamers can watch Snoop Dogg rage quit streaming Madden NFL, a feeling avid gamers know all too well.
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Source: Nintendo Life