EA SPORTS predicted a Super Bowl thriller in Madden NFL 24, and the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers delivered a Super Bowl thriller. But the developer was not only right about the drama
0:10 deficit, comeback, overtime victory: Super Bowl LVIII had a lot to offer on Sunday night. While the Kansas City Chiefs successfully defended their title by winning 25:22 after overtime, the San Francisco 49ers wrote the next chapter in a sad series. The Niners lost their third Super Bowl in a row with the defeat against the Chiefs. The men from California had already made it to the final in 2013 and 2020, but missed out on the title
EA SPORTS does the same in 2020
Meanwhile, there was rejoicing at EA SPORTS – at least in those parts of the workforce that don’t support the 49ers. Because Kansas City’s narrow success has once again confirmed the 2024 Super Bowl prediction, which the developer has made every year since 2004. While San Francisco had to swallow its third Super Bowl disappointment in a row, EA SPORTS was able to end an identical streak. Curious: The last time the Madden oracle was right was in 2020, when the Chiefs also beat the Niners.
EA SPORTS now has a hit rate of just over 57 percent across the 21 predictions it has now made. The simulation was correct twelve times in advance, although there is a clear gap between the first and most recent attempts. In the last eleven attempts – including 2024 – only three predictions came true
2014 will be the high point
The first ten years went much better, with nine (!) predictions hitting the mark. The absolute highlight was the last episode of this incredible run. In 2014, the Madden oracle was even right about the result of Super Bowl XLIX. In the simulation, the game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks had already ended 28:24 in favor of the Pats.
Even more impressive than EA SPORTS’ predictions in football are the almost clairvoyant predictions in soccer. At the end of 2022, the EAFC developer wrote the fourth chapter in a flawless series in FIFA 23: After correctly predicting the 2010 (Spain), 2014 (Germany) and 2018 (France) world champions, EA SPORTS also predicted Argentina’s triumph in Qatar.
