On March 23, over twenty students who received EA Madden Scholarships came to EA Orlando for a full day of behind-the-scenes action, showcasing how the EA SPORTS team builds some of the most popular games in the world, celebrating the students and highlighting the many opportunities available to them.

The inaugural class of 24  student scholars came from 12 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). There was a lot of school spirit on display, with chants and cheers for Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Howard University, Jackson State University, Morehouse College, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, Tuskegee University, Morgan State University and Southern University and A&M College.

At the welcome presentation, Daryl Holt, SVP GM, EA SPORTS, shared his own unique career path at EA, offering many insights to the group. Later on, Seann Graddy, VP, EP & Julie Foster, VP, Brand, EA SPORTS, also joined the students to share how many EA games like Madden NFL 23, EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™, EA SPORTS College Football, and others get designed, built and enhanced for players around the world.

Madden Championship Series Analyst, @OneGreatUser, even joined in the day’s activities and helped share his excitement for the game with all the students. In addition to building popular TikTok and Twitch followings, OneGreatUser has climbed the Madden ranks over the years, including capturing the Panthers Club Championship at EA headquarters in Redwood Shores, CA in Madden 20.

One of the day’s highlights was a personal guided tour of the Broadcast Studio, Motion Capture (MoCap) Studio & Art Lab at EA Orlando. These world-class creative facilities help EA game developers to build unique and intensely realistic in-game experiences. EA’s Black Employee Resource Group, BEAT, also held a fun and inspirational session that culminated with an impromptu jam to “The Swag Song,” lots of laughs, and many insightful questions from the students.

The EA Madden Scholarships celebrate Coach Madden and his legendary career in sports and entertainment and are a key part of Electronic Arts’ $5 million John Madden Legacy Commitment to Education. John Madden’s son, Mike Madden, even surprised the students with a personal welcome video that underscored how proud he and the entire Madden family were of the students and underscored his family’s lifelong dedication to learning.

Our Orlando studio is in the heart of Downtown Orlando’s Creative Village, an urban innovation district designed to cultivate synergies between the region’s emerging digital media industry and partners in education.

We'll open applications for the second cohort of EA Madden Scholars this Fall.

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