Terrance Newell
Madden NFL Senior Art Director
Terrance Newell has built a remarkable almost 30-year career as a video game artist. He’s had the privilege of working with some of the most talented developers in the industry at renowned studios like 2K’s Visual Concepts, Xbox Studios’ Turn 10, and now EA Tiburon in Orlando. Throughout his career, he’s contributed to some of the industry’s most celebrated titles, including the iconic open-world experience, Forza Horizon, and currently, the cultural phenomenon Madden NFL. When he’s not immersed in game development, you’ll likely find him playing on one of Florida’s countless golf courses or relaxing along the Atlantic coast. Sports are in his DNA—when he says, “It’s in the game.” he means it with passion and pride.
Your Path to Madden NFL: What inspired you to pursue a career in art direction for video games, and how did your journey lead you to become the Senior Art Director for the EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL franchise?
My older brother Eddy, nine years my senior, is a brilliant comic book artist. It was incredibly inspiring to go to the store with a little change and purchase the comic that my brother had penciled. As a kid in Ohio, it helped me realize that the world and its opportunities were bigger than I had assumed.
When I started drawing, one of the first pieces I remember being proud of was of Bert Jones, the QB for the then-Baltimore Colts. I’ve always been a sports nerd. My high school was vocational, and as a high school senior, I was introduced to one the first 3D modeling programs. Computer graphics (CG) emerged, and my mind was blown. The fusion of sports and art felt very natural to me.
My passion started with wanting to create things that I love as an artist first, and over time, my career naturally progressed into art direction. In this role, I have the opportunity to inspire others and give back to the incredibly talented artists coming up in the industry today.
The Art of Capturing the NFL: One of the many things Madden NFL is known for is its attention to detail. How do you and your team ensure every element, from player uniforms to stadiums, is both authentic to the NFL and visually accurate? What are the biggest challenges you face in capturing these details and making sure they align with the league’s standards?
The biggest challenge is lead time and access. Since Madden NFL is an annual title, our timelines are very tight. Our team does a fantastic job with logistics, planning and execution to deliver a AAA sports franchise year after year.
The consistency of the NFL schedule helps us align timelines, but it doesn’t account for all the data we need to acquire to build the game’s extensive content. Now that the game is expanding internationally, we also have to acquire venue data from different countries and work with new partners. These are exciting changes, but they come with unique challenges.
Dynamic Environments and Atmosphere: Dynamic features like weather effects, crowd interactions, and stadium atmosphere add immersion to Madden NFL. What does that process entail, and what challenges do you encounter when designing these elements.
As you can imagine, we are fans of the sport. We’ve attended decades of events—regular season games, playoffs, Super Bowls—recording countless amounts of visual-audio references.
Location and seasonal differences are a key part of a team’s identity. You’ll see rain in Seattle, snow in Buffalo. Most of the challenges we deal with in recreating these elements is the sheer scale of the content and capabilities of the platform. There are very few games that require 22 uniquely animating characters, along with more than 30 venues supporting multiple times of day and weather conditions.
With each release, we look for ways to improve the performance and visuals of these elements. Any improvements we make to these spaces have to be applied across our extensive content library. It is a challenge, but is one that we embrace.
Fan Feedback in Design: The Madden NFL community is known for being passionate and vocal about gameplay details. How does fan feedback influence the visual design direction of the game? Can you share an example of a specific fan suggestion or request that made it into the final product?
Our community is incredibly engaged, and it’s great to see their passion for the game align with ours. Each year, we have to strike a balance— even with our own internal teams— between what we want to do and what we can do within the time and capacity available in the given development cycle.
Some recent examples of community-requested updates in Madden NFL 25 that come to mind are adding tattoo options for Superstar avatars, padded sleeve options, and looser sleeves for player loadouts. While these may seem like small details, they contribute to the authenticity and overall immersion of the game.
Art Direction in a Team Sport: Madden NFL is a game based on team sports, but it requires extensive collaboration between various departments. How do you work with gameplay designers, audio teams, and other departments to create a cohesive and immersive experience? Can you share a specific example of how this cross- departmental collaboration shapes the final product?
A few cycles back, we introduced the NFL Draft Combine into the game. To bring it to life, multiple teams worked together. The environment team built a visual treatment for the Indianapolis stadium specific to the event. The gameplay team added authentic, combine-specific events like the bench press. The props and environment artists created weights for the lift, the platform for the station, and other necessary elements. Our character team designed the proper combine wardrobe loadouts for the players. The animation team developed realistic bench press motions. Our gameplay design team developed an interaction model for the controls. Finally, our UI/UX team designed the UI for the onscreen feedback for player interaction.
This level of complex collaboration is common across most elements in Madden NFL. Rarely does any team work in isolation— bringing the game to life is a collective effort.
