Madden 16 EA Release Date: Available for Xbox One Now, Download Begins Next Week, Fix for Downloading Problems

By Mark Rollins
Madden 16
Madden 16 can be played on the Xbox One now. EA Sports

John Madden's football game for video game consoles has been around since the late 80's.  Ever since early 1990, there has been an annual version of the game released, and those that have the Xbox One will be given a special 10-hour sneak preview as described below.  Some have reported problems with getting the preview on EA Access, but there are ways around that.  The official release date and news for other platforms will be happening next week. 

Gotta Be Mobile reports some good news for Xbox One users who want to play the popular football simulation game right now, because EA Access gives Xbox One users the right to do that. Those who own the Xbox 360 as well as Sony's PS3 and PS4 have to wait, but EA is offering a 10-hour trial of Madden 16 on the Xbox One with the purchase of one paid EA Access subscription.  It can be purchased for about $4.99 a month or $29.99 for a year. 

Normally, EA Access includes the ability to play a dozen full games and a 10 percent discount on digital purchases that apply to the full Madden 16 game and in-game items.  Users don't even have to pre-order Madden 16 to receive the EA Access trial, only to subscribe. 

I'm sure that if you were really a big Madden fan, you will have discovered that EA delivered Madden 16 downloads as early as 6 PM Eastern time yesterday.  This is not a demo, but a full version of the game that will have your progress carrying over until the day of the final release.  So when Xbox One users of this early access program get around to purchasing Madden 16, much of it will be already on the hard drive.  Just insert the disk and everything should be there. 

If you have already subscribed to EA Access, Madden 16 is available in the EA Access Hub application.  Some users have reported that EA Access didn't recognize their subscription, but there is an easy fix:  just restart the Xbox One and try again.  Users are also not seeing a trial option in the Xbox One Store, so when you click on the trial option from the EA Access Hub, you may only see the option to buy the bundle.  Should this happen, go back to the hub and try a few more times, and eventually you should be able to search the Xbox One Store for Madden 16 to find the trial. 

The trial period will give users time to try out the new features like testing out the Draft Champions mode, play Madden ultimate team, as well as going through the skills trainer for learning throwing, catching, and other ball playing mechanics. 

A recent report from Bleacher Report says that the defending NFC champions, the Seattle Seahawks, are the only team in the game with three players who top the ratings at their respective positions:  Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, and Kam Chancellor. 

For those who want to purchase Madden 16 on some other platform, it will be officially available on August 25, 2015.  Madden 16 can be downloaded at 12:01 AM Eastern time next Tuesday.