Uh-oh, Madden 24 has more people playing than Madden 25

As rumors fly about whether the NFL and EA Sports will continue partnering, industry research firm Circana has provided some interesting data. Madden 24 has moved ahead of Madden 25 in weekly average users on Xbox.

That seems like a pretty damning stat considering the game has been out only two months. Of course, in true EA fashion it has been an eventual two months. Defense was largely non-existent until a patch Sept. 10. The ability to add custom route stems to the game created a gamebreaking glitch.

If you're into Ultimate Team, it took EA so long to deliver the rewards it promised that it had to offer additional rewards. Players with pre-lit X-Factors showed up right after launch, which is the definition of pay-to-win. Oh, and EA accidentally released a Tyreek Hill card with 96 speed that was only ever supposed to be seen by people testing the game.

Of course, the elephant in the room is the presence of EA Sports College Football 25. It hasn't been perfect either, but it gets so much of the pageantry of college football right. Many gamers who haven't played since NCAA Football 14 returned to the fold.

One of the reasons commonly cited for the NFL continuing to work with EA Sports is that the game holds its audience throughout the year. We complain about it ad nauseum, but for the most part we keep playing it. If that changes, well we could be in for some interesting times where this game franchise is concerned.