EA confirmed soon afterward in May a fresh Mut 21 coins game could be published later in the year (alongside a brand new FIFA instalment). Due to the pandemic, a normal photoshoot of Lamar Jackson for the game's cover was not possible. Therefore, the official photographer of the team provided photographs of the player.

It was verified that the match would release on August 28 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4. EA also confirmed that Madden NFL will be coming making it the first Madden game to start Google's cloud streaming platform. It was also announced that Madden NFL 21 would be accessible on PS5 and Xbox Series X .

EA confirmed that the sport would enable free updates to next-gen variations for people who own it on Xbox One or PS4. However, EA put restrictions set up, for purchasing the sport, with a limited time window and for redeeming the upgrade for those who wanted to avail updates. After criticism to the decision, EA extended the window, stating that players can update to next-gen versions at any time before the launch of Madden NFL 22 a year.

In late May, it was announced that Madden NFL 21 will be unveiled with a reveal trailer on June 1. However, shortly EA pushed back the match reveal as a result of the nationwide protests at the United States after the killing of George Floyd. The game was later revealed in complete. Due to Washington Redskins declaring that it might be changing its name to drop the team's controversial moniker, EA announced that the team's current logo and name would be removed from Madden NFL 21 as well, and could be replaced by a generic team name and logo until new ones were finalized, which would subsequently be inserted into the game afterwards.

EA confirmed that Madden NFL 21 wouldn't feature platform multiplayer gameplay.

Buy Madden 21 coins introduces several new gameplay mechanics into the sequence. Instead of a single skill button, abilities are now performed through the analog tick. Skills can be carried out in combos and strung together, such as slides, jukes, spins, and barriers. The skill stick is used for defending with all pass rush moves and block-sheds now being on the ideal analog stick.