It features Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as the cover athlete, and Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis as its in-game commentators.

[7][8] The members of the 99 club at launch were Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, Michael Thomas, Aaron Donald, and Stephon Gilmore.

[9][10] EA Tiburon stated that Madden NFL 21 would include "new innovative gameplay mechanics" that "offer advanced levels of control and inspire creativity on both sides of the ball."

[12] On September 8, EA announced that Colin Kaepernick would be made available to play in the game and sign as a free agent, the first time he appeared in the franchise since Madden NFL 17.

The move was met with a mixed response, due in part to Kaepernick being rated an 81 overall, higher than other comparable quarterbacks like Ryan Tannehill (80) and Kyler Murray (77).

[21] Also giving the game 3/5 stars, USgamer wrote: "Madden 21's gameplay takes some appreciable steps forward as the generation comes to a close, with The Yard providing some casual fun.

[25][26][27][28][29] On June 16, 2020, the trailer for Madden NFL 21 was released and panned by reviewers and gamers, who noted no new apparent changes to previous installments and called the game "a $60 roster update".

[33] Screen Rant wrote that players were "upset with the lack of changes, the continued gaming bugs that weren't fixed from past installments, and EA's repeated use of microtransactions.

"[34] [35] Several days after the game's release, the hashtag "#NFLdropEA" was trending on Twitter, with users calling for the NFL to opt-out of its exclusive rights deal with EA Sports.

"[25] Despite the mixed critical reception and controversy, EA announced that sales of Madden NFL 21 were up 20% compared to the previous year's installment in its first week of release.