Creating the Visual Experience for EA SPORTS Madden NFL 24
EA SPORTS is home to talented individuals from around the world who help bring our fans closer to the sports they love – and this was no different with the worldwide release of EA SPORTS Madden NFL 24.
EA SPORTS Madden NFL is the best-selling sports franchise in U.S. video game history, and this year’s title offers an evolved FieldSENSE™ gameplay system, cross-play functionality, and the debut of EA SPORTS SAPIEN technology – which deliver all-new levels of control and realism for our players. With so many new visual features and innovations, we sat down with members of our EA Tiburon Visual Experience (VisX) team, based out of EA Orlando, to learn firsthand what went into developing the game and creating our most immersive football experience yet.
Get to know Terrance and Shelley and their roles in creating the game below!
Can you share a bit of background on the EA Tiburon VisX team?
T: EA Tiburon VisX is based out of our EA Orlando studio in Orlando, Florida, and is home to creatives of several disciplines – including artists, animators, lighters, conceptors, riggers, and UI/UX designers – who contribute to developing the sports titles in our portfolio to our players. Our team has a constant, never-wavering goal of delivering world class visual fidelity that is both immersive and authentic to sport. We dig into details, the little things that our fans will notice and appreciate, and look to target the next visual improvement and innovation with every release.
S: The VisX team pulls both the Art and Experience Design teams under one umbrella. Within that, I work in User Experience (UX) (a growing area in game development), where we essentially work across the entire game development team to communicate, visualize, and create the best experiences for our players.
The EA Orlando studio, home to our EA SPORTS Madden NFL, EA SPORTS College Football, and EA SPORTS PGA Tour teams.
What did you enjoy most about working on EA SPORTS Madden NFL 24?
T: I really enjoyed advancing the authenticity of the players in our game. I am also always so privileged to work with some of the most talented and dedicated folks in our industry. It is such a blessing to be able to spend time working on a title and a sport that I love.
S: I did a lot of work with the Superstar Showdown experience, which involved rethinking how people jump into a quick, fun experience of football that still feels like it fits in with the rest of the game. It was a fun process of working with different teams to create a meaningful, impactful, and dynamic experience for our players, and I’m really proud of what the work accomplished in such a short amount of time (and players really seem to be enjoying it!).
Features like FieldSENSE™ and SAPIEN Technology in EA SPORTS Madden NFL 24 add more control and realism to the game.
Can you tell us a little bit about your role?
T: My role revolves around every visual aspect of the game, really. Team sports are collaborative by nature, and our projects are the same way. My responsibilities are about as broad as they could possibly be. As a people leader, I provide direction for our VisX leads, including driving the visual vision for the EA SPORTS Madden NFL franchise. Additionally, I collaborate with our studio business, production, and design teams to ensure our goals for the experience, product, and customers are being met.
S: I help bridge the gap between the player experience and the designers' intent. I work with the game designers and producers as we take features from ideas to reality. We ensure we bring the design to life in a way that players will understand and engage with, and that the designers’ intended player experience is one players actually have when we release it. Experience Design and UX is also heavily data driven. Our team looks at who is playing, how they're interacting with the game and identifies patterns of behavior. Those patterns provide insight on where we can improve the experience, allowing us to represent the voice of the player as we ideate and develop features in the game.
How would you describe the EA Tiburon VisX team’s culture?
T: VisX, at its core, is about having a deliberate focus on the visual experience. We not only strive to develop world class products, but it is also important to us that we don’t lose sight of our players’ experience, and elevate the immersion during that experience. We also focus on our experience as creators. We cultivate a true team environment, with a ‘we’ not ‘me’ mindset, and make sure we maintain a day-to-day that we enjoy. We are in the fun business.
S: There’s a lot of passion on the team to deliver experiences that people can be excited about. Because of this, we are continuously advocating for the things we think are the most important and impactful in terms of user experience. We are extremely collaborative and are always pitching ideas and brainstorming together on ways to improve the game. We also have a lot of fun and make jokes and try to keep things light hearted.
What advice would you give someone interested in a role on the EA Tiburon VisX team?
T: It’s ok to stumble at the roadblocks. I learned early in my career that you will overcome failure, and that the challenges on your journey only reinforce the fact that you are dreaming big. Embrace your weaknesses and target them for improvement, and surround yourself with talented and intelligent people who you can learn from. And most importantly, always ask for help when you need it, as soon as you can.
S: It’s really important to be empathetic and put yourself in someone else's shoes, because even though you may perceive something one way, others may not. It’s also important to be objective when needed, and let the user and the data speak for themselves before assuming the right solution. Seek out people who you can learn from and grow from, both within and outside of your discipline. And finally, when working in UX in the gaming industry, usability is important, but always remember to keep the element of fun in everything you do.
Get in the game with Terrance, Shelley and our VisX team, read more about EA SPORTS, and stay tuned for more EA SPORTS spotlights and stories coming soon!
