The 21st installment of the Madden NFL series, it is the first game to feature two players on the cover: Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, who played against each other the previous season in Super Bowl XLIII.

For the first time in the Madden NFL series, the cover features two players: Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals.

In the NFL Kickoff game against the Tennessee Titans, Polamalu sprained his MCL while blocking a field goal attempt, causing him to miss a majority of the season.

In light of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the American Football League, on September 24 the AFL Legacy Pack became available as downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network.

[20] The pack includes throwback uniforms for the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots (Boston Patriots), Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers), San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs (Dallas Texans), Denver Broncos, and New York Jets (Titans of New York), In addition, games can be played in a classic AFL film grain broadcast camera, referee uniforms are AFL-style orange throwbacks and the team logos on field are old-school.

[23] EA Sports released Madden NFL Arcade as a downloadable title through the PSN Store and Xbox Live Marketplace networks on November 24 respectively.