Madden 23 Is Free This Weekend, As EA Announces Most Popular Teams And Players

The new NFL season begins tomorrow, September 8, and to capitalize on the hype, EA Sports is hosting a free weekend for the newest entry in the series, Madden NFL 23. Additionally, the publisher announced new statistics that seem to show the new game is performing better than last year's, at least so far.

To celebrate the start of the new NFL season, EA making Madden NFL 23 free for everyone from September 8-11. Additionally, the Madden NFL 23 All Madden Edition will be marked down by 25%.

As for the new stats, EA announced that Madden NFL 23 saw a 30% increase in total games played during launch week compared to Madden NFL 22. EA did not, however, announce a hard sales number for Madden NFL 23--but that's no surprise given EA--and other publishers these days--tend to shy away from hard sales data in favor of vague statistics.

Still, Madden NFL 23 seems to be a solid entry for EA worthy of some celebration. The game isn't perfect, but reviews are at least praising the on-field gameplay for being the best in years.

EA also confirmed that the Buffalo Bills saw a 115% increase in usage compared to Madden NFL 22 so far, which makes them the most popular team in Madden NFL 23 so far. Players who didn't choose to play as the Bills still wanted to play against them, it seems, as the Bills showed up in all five of Madden NFL 23's most-played matchups thus far against the Rams, Chargers, Bucs, Dolphins, and Cowboys, EA said.

Josh Allen, the QB of the Bills, is Madden NFL 23's most-decorated QB so far with the most passing yards and touchdowns of any QB in the game. Bills receiver Stefon Diggs is Madden NFL 23's best performing receiver so far, while Von Miller--who was traded to the Bills this offseason--has the most sacks so far in Madden NFL 23. Another standout player so far in Madden NFL 23 has been Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White, who has the most interceptions in the game.

Finally, EA announced that a new update for Madden NFL 23 is coming this week that has "fresh gameplay improvements," though they were not detailed. The update also adds new music, including the song "Checkmate" by Cordae and Hit-Boy.

For more, check out GameSpot's Madden NFL 23 review, along with some guides linked below.

• The Best Defensive Playbooks To Use In Madden 23
• Madden 23: Best Playbooks For Offense