EA removing controversial Washington team references from Madden 21

The Washington Redskins as we previously knew them are being removed from Madden 21. EA is putting this year’s annual football title through last minute changes to accurately reflect the NFL team’s branding change.

Given the game is already being pressed on discs, Madden 21 will ship with the Washington Redskins on the disc. That said, if you put the game in while connected to the internet, it will remove the original team’s branding. The roster and everything about the actual team is still in the game, EA has simply renamed the team until the NFL team assigns a new name.

“We are pleased to see Washington’s decision to change their team name and visual identity,” said an EA spokesperson to Kotaku. “We are quickly working to update Madden NFL 21 to feature a generic Washington team, while we await final word on the updated team name and logo design.”

There will still be some references in Madden 21 to the team’s original name but EA notes they will be removed over time. For the time being, you will hear announcers refer to the team as the Washington Redskins and see visual references.

“The first changes will be available to our EA Access players and will include audio/commentary updates; motion graphics and presentation updates; stadium art, environments, crowd gear and signage updates; and uniform updates,” the spokesperson said. “Players may continue to see some outdated Washington references in other areas of the game at launch, but we are committed to removing all of those from the game in additional title updates coming shortly after launch.”

The Washington NFL team’s name has been one of controversy for quite a while. The name is seen as culturally insensitive and outdated, resulting in anger from fans. Only recently has the discussion become more intense, resulting in the team opting to change the name and logo. Madden 21 will accurately update the in-game team’s branding with whatever new logo and name is chosen.

There’s no word on whether or not they’ll be removing these references from past games or not.

Madden 21 will release on Xbox One, PS4, and PC on August 25th, 2020. EA will also release the game on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 when those consoles release this holiday season.