Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Antonio Brown is one of the best players in the NFL, capable of catching ridiculous passes and outrunning even the most skilled secondaries. He’s being rewarded for his skills with a cover spot on Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 19 this year, and we’re crossing our fingers that the infamous Madden Curse stays away.
The announcement video highlighted not just Brown’s inhuman ability to make big plays and score touchdowns, but also his dance moves. They’ve become quite popular since he entered the league, and he has even been disciplined by the NFL for apparently violating Key & Peele‘s “three pump” rule.
The cover art for the standard edition of the game actually leaked before the official announcement. It’s very Steelers-focused, with a bright cold background behind Antonio Brown. It’s not exactly the prettiest thing in the world, but neither is watching the Steelers claw their way to victory.
Brown will be one of seven players in Madden NFL 19 with a 99 player-rating when the game launches. He’s joined by quarterbacks Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, defensive end Aaron Donald, linebackers Luke Kuechly and Von Miller, and tight end Rob Gronkowski. Brown’s quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has an 88 rating in the game, making him the seventh-best at the position.
EA Sports aimed to make Madden NFL 19 the most realistic game in the series, with changes to artificial intelligence and player-motion better replicating the action we see in real football games. Other features include solo battles in Ultimate Team — one of the game’s most popular modes — and the return of the story-based Longshot, once again focusing on rising star Devin Wade. The mode will include more actual football gameplay than last year’s mode.
Madden NFL 19 comes to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and for the first time in a decade, PC on August 10, with the game available on August 7 for those who buy the Hall of Fame edition. Though the FIFA series has been released on the Nintendo Switch in the past, it doesn’t appear Madden plans to follow suit, though the possibility of Madden eventually coming to the console is still on the table.
