On October 21, tucked inside the larger announcement of BioWare being shut down and hundreds of people losing their jobs, Electronic Arts (EA) made mention of its sports franchises. What stood out was the fact that EA Sports is working on something called “Project Gridiron”.
While details were scarce in the reveal, EA Sports did call it a “brand-new, social-first open-world experience”. Those were a lot of buzzwords, but what does it all mean? What is “Project Gridiron”?
A Closely-Guarded Secret
As I first reported on episode 81 of Insider Gaming Weekly on October 23, Project Gridiron is, in fact, a standalone game. I had believed, personally, that it was the name of the feature being built for games like Madden and College Football that’s similar to EA Sports FC’s “The Grounds”, but sources tell me that isn’t the case.
According to people with knowledge of the project, this new game is being viewed as a way to get more players in the EA Sports football ecosystem. And while it’s still a ways off from being released and a lot of updates are expected, EA is taking the “social-first, open-world” approach seriously.
It was said that the new game is going to be “nothing like what people may think.” When prodded for more, the source didn’t want to give too much away for fear that it could be traced back to them.
That said, this will be a game that allows players to interact in real time with others around the world, including playing quick games of football with multiple people.
What it’s not is a third major football game like College Football or Madden. Nor is it something that will be a “replacement” for College Football, like some have suggested online.
It’s important to note that the game is still in an early stage of development, and that a lot can—and likely will—change between now and its eventual release. Early plans call for a look at this game by Summer 2027, though that was emphasized as being “heavily tentative”.
As far as The Grounds-like mode, that is still in development. It’s been worked on alongside The Grounds for years, and is still planned to be introduced at some point. However, when it’ll come is something I couldn’t get details on. No one could confirm if it would be something introduced for Madden 28 and/or College Football 28 or beyond. There’s also the mindset that if The Grounds doesn’t fully take off in the way EA is hoping within its largest franchise, then there’s a chance it doesn’t come at all.
That, however, is said to be a worst-case scenario that isn’t close to being the case.
What are you hoping Project Gridiron is now that it’s known to be a standalone game? Let us know down in the comments and in the official Insider Gaming Discord.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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