Electronic Arts announced today that San Francisco 49ers superstar Christian McCaffrey will grace the cover of this year's Madden NFL 25. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year will be featured on both the Standard and Deluxe Editions of the game when they are released this August.
“Christian McCaffrey is a human highlight reel on NFL Sundays and our players love his dynamic abilities in Madden, scoring more than 450 million touchdowns with him last year and making him the most popular running back in Madden NFL 24,” said Mike Mahar, Senior Production Director of Madden NFL. "Christian’s electrifying, dynamic and physical play style perfectly represents the gameplay innovations we’re bringing to Madden NFL 25 and made him the perfect fit for this year’s cover."
McCaffrey is widely regarded as the best running back in the NFL thanks to his dynamic playmaking ability both as a runner and a pass-catcher. His 2,023 scrimmage yards and 21 touchdowns last season all represented NFL bests on the year. He also tied a league record with 17 straight games with a touchdown. Suffice to say, there's probably no one more deserving than Christian McCaffrey for the cover of this year's Madden video game.
“To be on the cover of Madden NFL is a career achievement and an honor I share with all of my teammates, coaches and 49er Faithful who have helped make it possible,” said McCaffrey. “I'm pumped to get back on the field this year to give Madden players more reasons to keep scoring touchdowns with me in Madden NFL 25."
While the star running back expressed excitement about appearing on the cover, there's no doubt 49ers fans are a bit uneasy. For years, the Madden video game series has been associated with a "curse" where whoever has appeared on the cover of the newest game ends up having a disappointing season — either due to injury or just underperforming. But if McCaffrey ends up taking a step back, it probably won't be due to Madden, but rather because he's already set the bar so high that it's near impossible to match it. Well, that and the fact that he's 28 years old playing a position that takes a demanding toll on your body and he totaled 339 touches last season.
Concerns aside, fans can look forward to playing Madden NFL 25 when it launched worldwide on August 16. The game will be available for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PS4, and PC, but as usual, only the Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC versions will include the full feature set such as the next level of FieldSENSE, new commentary and presentation, and other various updates across the game's numerous modes. Unfortunately, today's announcement wasn't met with many gameplay details, but EA teased that the full reveal will be coming "soon."