EA Sports to Shut Down Madden NFL 21 & 22 Servers in 2025

EA has been spending a large portion of 2025 announcing shutdowns of some of its most well-known gaming entry servers. This has been quite a heartbreak for sports video game fans, as they are abruptly losing access to servers they have come to know and love. As of the beginning of January, there had already been 13 announcements of shutdowns. Among these confirmations was Madden 21, which is scheduled to end on June 30.

The full list of shutdowns is as follows, in order of end date. Only Madden NFL 21 remains online as of this writing.

• Rory McIlroy PGA Tour – January 16
• The Simpsons: Tapped Out – January 24
• Blood & Glory Immortals – January 29
• Contract Killer: Sniper – January 29
• Deer Hunter Classic – January 29
• Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores – January 29
• Eternity Warriors 4 – January 29
• Frontline Commando 2 – January 29
• Frontline Commando: D-Day – January 29
• UFC 3 – February 17
• EA Sports UFC Mobile 2 – March 13
• NCAA 14 – March 13
• Madden NFL 21 – June 30

This is not the first time EA has come through and sliced beloved games. Just last year, games from all sorts of different platforms saw the guillotine, most notably Battlefield 3. While the theory makes sense, so many games these days focus on online entries, and it is just not feasible to sustain so many different servers across so many games and platforms. Still, this gives little consolation to fans relying on servers for entertainment.

Since the first announcement, another game has been added to the shutdown list. Madden 22, the third football game on the list, has just been added to the fray. At least in this way, by doing an early announcement and posting on the EA website, players can play the games a few more times before the official shutdown, which is better than simply pulling the rug out from underneath fans. Online multiplayer for Madden 22 will be ending on October 20, 2025.

Although two Madden games are going offline throughout this year, 23, 24, and 25 still have multiplayer access. More exciting, a new entry, NFL 26, will be coming out in August that should keep football fans plenty engaged and occupied. Though, it should be noted, Madden 26 also has some changeups that will affect the access that players have to the new game.

Final Thoughts

Madden fans may be disappointed at the way EA has treated them this year, what with the loss of two iconic entries online mode, the shutdown of NCAA 14, and now the move from the previous generation console for NFL 26. Still, while the reaction may be one of frustration, they are not moves that should be unexpected. EA is a business, and they weigh cost-benefit analysis. At some point, the servers are too much to keep up with. Hopefully, the upcoming entry will be enough to keep fans excited and engaged in the franchise.