On June 1. Styles was on hand at the EA headquarters located in Redwood, California for the grand unveiling of "Madden NFL 23." Alongside EA staff and members from Madden's family, The event included a tour of the campus with the dedication ceremony of a 50-yard field named after Madden at the Madden 23 coins center of it, an update on a $5 million initiative to raise money for charity from the publisher in coach's name, and finally, the reveal on the book's cover Styles was developing for.
"They asked me to give an address at the of all the speakers," Styles, who joked about "strategically" wearing his throwback Randall Cunningham jersey for the event, told. "I'm like 'What the hell? I'm just the artist! Why do I want to target Mike Madden (John's son )?'"
However, he believed that his statements were true, of how John Madden was all about bringing people together and it was how Madden games and football in the suburban streets just outside of West Philly did that for Styles and his brothers when they were kids.
And the curtain he pulled the curtain down hit a bigger chord: Full artwork by Styles depicting a younger Madden playing through a silver and gold frame while arrows flow around him to play out from drawn-out Xs and the Os as well as a touching call-back on the first "John Madden Football" cover from 1988. which is then capped by a message to the right of him that reads "Thanks, Coach."
This will be the artwork for the box for the exclusive "All-Madden Edition" from the title, which is part of a collection of three exclusive covers that will be released with "Madden 23" at the end of August, with each one paying tribute to a different chapter in Madden's storied football career. The "All-Madden Edition" is dedicated to John Madden as a video game icon.
The other two are that of John Madden the coach, featuring that memorable photo of him getting a lift on his players' shoulders after the Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1977. and John Madden the broadcaster, with Madden looking directly at the camera and the view from his booth in mut coins madden 23 in the background (plus some old pictures from earlier games on the monitors in front of him).
All three were put together by a team of Styles as well as design firm Cinco which helped develop the branding for previous EA titles, and feature the telestrator-style lines -that is a John Madden signature -- and the "Thanks, Coach" message by Styles across the board.