Electronic Arts has decided to pull all references to the Washington Redskins name and logo from its upcoming Madden NFL 21 game releasing next month. The move follows the landmark decision from team leadership earlier this week to change the Redskins name and overhaul its brand in response to years of protests and criticism from activists and corporate sponsors over its racist history. The news of EA’s plans to update Madden for its August 25th release was first reported by Kotaku on Friday.
“We are pleased to see Washington’s decision to change their team name and visual identity,” an EA spokesperson confirmed to The Verge. “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.” The update removing all Redskins references will be prepared for launch, but it will require players who buy the game on a disc to connect to the internet to download and install it as the game is in the “final stages of preparation before shipping.”
“Changes to the name and logo will come via title updates that will download automatically. 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 EA spokesperson adds. “Players may continue to see some outdated Washington references in other areas of the game at launch, but we are committed to removing all of those from the game in additional title updates coming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.”