14 DAY TRIAL // EA Sports has announced that Seattle Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman is the new face of the upcoming Madden NFL 15, winning the community-based poll.
The announcement came during an episode of ESPN's SportsCenter, revealing that Sherman, an instrumental asset in the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory, managed to defeat Cam Newton, quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, in the final bout of the cover athlete fan vote.
"Richard Sherman is a fantastic cover athlete selection by the fans. Defense is a big focus for Madden NFL 15, and Sherman is one of the brightest defensive stars in the NFL," said Anthony Stevenson, vice president of global marketing for EA Sports, on the EA blog.
This year's edition of the vote saw fans casting over 10 million votes, a significantly lower number compared to last year's 40 million registered votes, in large part due to the fact that EA only provided 16 eligible athletes for this year's bracket, as opposed to last year's 64.
Newton also came in second two years ago, the Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson made the cover of Madden NFL 13.
On his way to the top, Sherman shut down his opposition in the same manner he does on the playing field, managing to win over Chicago Bears wideout Alshon Jeffery in the opening round, followed by New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham and San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick.
The announcement came right after Electronic Arts unveiled the first gameplay trailer for Madden NFL 15, showing the development team's dedication to offering their fans a realistic and immersive experience.
Madden NFL 15 is built on EA Sports' in-house engine, called Ignite, which is designed to bring a whole new level of realism to next-gen platforms. The engine is also used by EA Sports UFC, the upcoming mixed martial arts video game.
The game will allow players to experience an entirely new array of defensive maneuvers, built to tackle the best that the NFL has to offer in offense.
A new and improved arsenal of passes and rush moves, coupled with an intuitive tackling system and improved camera angles make the defense part of the game more exciting than ever before.
Madden NFL 15 will be available on August 26 in North America and on August 29 in Europe, for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 next-gen platforms. A modified edition of the American football video game will also be released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment systems.
Expect more coverage of the game later this week, following Electronic Arts' press conference at the E3 convention in Los Angeles.