One of the advantages that the new generation offers – or at least Microsoft, which has confirmed its Smart Delivery program – is that many of the current console releases will be free to update on the new consoles. Microsoft will do it with its games and all those publishers that want it, like Ubisoft with Assassins Creed Valhalla and CD Projekt RED with Cyberpunk 2077. Yesterday Electronic Arts present Madden NFL 21 during Inside Xbox and although I talked about this possibility, they will opt for a somewhat different and more limited system.
EA also wants to offer the general idea of Smart Delivery, which is that the players of Madden NFL 21 on Xbox One they don't need to buy another copy on Xbox Series X to continue playing, but there are restrictions: players must acquire Madden NFL 21 on Xbox One before December 31 of this year to be able to choose the improvement, and they will have until March 31, 2021 to update the game taking advantage of the possibilities of the new console.
The move seems more intended to reward first-time buyers of the game and not those who are expecting a sale or are getting it on the second hand. Instead, Smart Delivery allows you to buy the game on Xbox One or Xbox Series X and get the version of the other console for free, no time limits.
Isolated case or EA's policy for its releases?
EA confirmed that some of its current games will be free to upgrade to PS5 and Xbox Series X, although no limitations were cited. The company has not clarified whether the case of Madden NFL 21 will occur only in their annual sports sagas – case of FIFA 21– or be habitual throughout your catalog, for example Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Battlefield 5 or the rumored Mass Effect Trilogy remastered, and if necessary demonstrate that a physical copy was purchased before the deadline.
For the moment, and in the absence of knowing Sony's policy on PS5 -with its games and those of other companies-, EA is the first major publisher to distance itself from the Smart Delivery policy presenting their own conditions.
