EA has lifted the curtain on this year’s iteration of Madden, and for the second time in series history, the cover will feature two athletes. In a video posted on June 14th from Twitter, the official Madden account teased the cover’s theme by presenting two goats on screen. Former cover athlete Peyton Hillis claimed that “they did it again” in reference to this year’s cover, and he was right to say so, as the cover features two “G.O.A.T.s”. Future Hall of Famer’s Tom Brady of the reigning Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs are this year’s cover athletes for the second time in their careers.

The ensuing reveal trailer gave us a glimpse into what we can expect from this year’s latest installment in the long-running football simulator. “Gameday Happens Here” was the motif of this trailer, as we were shown just how authentic EA is striving to make this year’s iteration. “Change Happens, Pressure Happens, Decision Making Happens” flashed during big-time plays in the trailer, and with EA being more settled into the next-gen hardware of the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S, it seems that they will have learned from last years Madden 21 woes.

This is Madden like you’ve never seen it…
It’s a whole new vibe with ALL-NEW Dynamic Gameday

Pre-Order Now: https://t.co/crmTeY1hzH #Madden22 pic.twitter.com/jB15VcSfLK

— Madden NFL 22 (@EAMaddenNFL) June 17, 2021

Madden 21 was criticized harshly by fans and critics alike for its lack of improvements across many single-player modes and the overall lack of polish that the game sorely needed. Like most games in 2020, EA had to work around the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing the team to shift to work from home right in the middle of development. EA also had to deal with a console transition, which is always a tough period for sports games as developers try to balance old and implementing new technology.

In a developer Gridiron Update posted on the official Madden website, EA tells fans “We heard you. Not only is your feedback extremely important to us, but also helps Madden NFL get better each year. Our development team worked tirelessly to incorporate highly-requested updates to Franchise in Madden NFL 22 that make you feel more connected and in control.”

Franchise Mode will be receiving an uplift with more updates and detail, such as detailed staff management, skill tree progression, more scenarios, and Live-Service Updates such as player scouting coming in September. “Face Of The Franchise” will be getting a new, more detailed story as well titled “United We Rise”. For next-gen consoles, Next Gen Stats will be returning from last year and will be improved upon, with data pertaining to passing aggressiveness, how ball carriers break tackles, and team strategy. Improvements made to sideline detection, tackling mechanics, and other gameplay features as well are all coming as well.

While the focus has shifted to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, support for PS4 and Xbox One consoles will be made for another year. Madden NFL 22 releases August 20 on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PS4, Google Stadia, and PC. It will available via early pre-order access on August 17.