Electronic Arts reveals Project Gridiron, an open-world football game separate from Madden

Electronic Arts revealed Project Gridiron, a social-first open-world American football game, in a letter on its studio roadmap. EA described Gridiron as separate from Madden and the upcoming College Football title, its two existing gridiron franchises. EA also confirmed pre-production on a new Fight Night boxing game, its first in over a decade. Neither title has a release date or price, leaving Gridiron's monetization model and launch window undisclosed.

EA would field three EA-developed football games in a single year if Gridiron, Madden and College Football all ship close together.
College Football's sales have declined year over year since its relaunch, per a recent report cited alongside EA's letter.
Rising NIL rights costs and other licensing expenses are straining that franchise's economics, the same report noted.
This raises an unconfirmed possibility floated by industry observers that Gridiron could eventually supplant College Football rather than sit beside it.

EA's letter positions Gridiron as a new social-first format distinct from Madden's and College Football's simulation base.

"We have two new projects in development you'll hear about over the next few months, including a brand-new, social-first open-world experience for our American Football team that we call 'Project Gridiron.'" - EA

The open-world, persistent-space design recalls NBA 2K's city hub model, though EA has not confirmed shared-universe mechanics.
EA says it will share more on both Gridiron and Fight Night over the "next few months."

For Investors & VC: Re-weight sports-game theses toward unlicensed social-hub formats with persistent live-service revenue.
For Service Vendors: Pitch open-world environment art and live-service backend capacity to the publisher's football studios.