In Temple of Geek’s exclusive interview, journalist Danreb Victorio goes one on one with Daryl Holt. Daryl is the SVP / Group GM at Tiburon and American Football for EA SPORTS. He joined me to discuss Prime Video’s It’s In The Game: Madden NFL, a four-part documentary covering the history of the best-selling football video game franchise.

In the interview, Holt clarifies his involvement on the documentary and promised to explore the evolution of the game series. He talks about its humble beginnings to the technological marvel it is today. From evolving technology to changing player expectations, the documentary details the numerous challenges the series has faced.

We also asked about the recently released EA SPORTS College Football ’25 and how it changes things for Madden. To which Holt talks about a future where Madden continues to evolve because of College Football’s return.

The conversation also doesn’t shy away from some controversial topics, such as EA’s past business dealings with Sega and Nintendo. Holt acknowledged the importance of transparency, even when it comes with less flattering aspects of EA’s company history.

In our review of the pilot, Victorio expressed his confusion about who this docuseries is for. Holt mentions that it’s made for everyone, from hardcore fans to casual Thanksgiving guests at home as the docuseries highlights the cultural impact of Madden.

We hope you enjoy the interview, and a transcript follows if you can’t watch it on YouTube.

Danreb Victorio (DRV) for Temple of Geek: Nice to meet you, Daryl! Can we talk about your role in the docuseries?

Holt: Well, my role in the docuseries is really as a producer and helping to get the access to the behind the scenes, the stories, the assets, the archives, the photos, as well as the access to us making the game in terms of Madden 25 as part of that docuseries kind of juxtaposition of the past and the present.

DRV: Awesome! I was also wondering if you can talk about what a Senior VP / Group GM does for the unaware. (smiles)

Holt: I guess I would be the conductor of the orchestra to a certain extent. My role here is to make sure that we’re strategically thinking about how we’re building the product, so we’re delivering it. All the kind of capabilities of the studios around the world that are working on our titles. And for Madden and FIFA, that’s in Orlando, but also in Madrid, Austin, Vancouver. So it’s a it’s a coordination of all of those things to make sure we’re moving forward.

On how the series has changed, along with some highlights and lowlights during his time working on Madden:

Holt: There’s a certain challenge to carry that torch forward (of being the longest running game) and the legacy that was established with Coach Madden to today. It’s also a challenge to meet the player expectations that are constantly changing.

I think what’s changed about it is obviously the tech. The player base also changes, so does the speed of sport, and the sports culture changes too. I think this documentary does a good job of capturing a lot of different things along that whole journey. How does it change in terms of how we’re trying to replicate reality?

We’re trying to create the most authentic football simulation. That’s what coach wanted us to do. So that challenge remains and I think that’s what drives us. There might be micro changes and there might be more macro, larger changes that we do in the game.

We also go through a console transition about every 7 or 8 years that always adds new technology. That comes with the challenge of how you learn that technology and apply it. Eventually you have to come to a comfort zone because you have to learn to ramp up with that tech.

When I started taking over American football, the first title was Madden ’20. My very first title was back on Madden ’06. So there’s a quite a juxtaposition of all those things coming off. I came into the industry and with esports in 2005, which is considered one of the greatest, if not the best brands of all time. Then you’re dealing with that console transition in 2006 that was both memorable and forgettable on many different ways. Given the challenge, that was one of the hardest cycles to go through.

Then you come across something like Madden ’04 where people love it. One of the bigger Maddens of all time in terms of commercial success as well as player sentiment. You feel good about delivering something that people love to play. I think for a game that I grew up loving to a play, in a sport that I love… And then seeing players and fans and people pick it up and play it and enjoy it? That’s the most memorable moment for them all. Having that every year, even though sometimes you have players that can be very critical about it.

Victorio talked about how he’s played Madden and then asked about Holt’s thoughts, in addition to how he plays Madden.

Holt: Oh, I do still play. I play a lot of franchise. I also play some mod, but for the most part, it’s it’s the different challenges I want to play. Am I going to play a lot of online mod? Occasionally, but not as much. I think I’m the oldest and right. I want the franchise and all the customization that can go into it. I’ll play a little superstar here or there, but the best players show up for the best competition on me and they love that. That’s what drives them. They want to have that that moment, and that’s what’s important to them.

Others want to just take a player through their career. Me, I want to take the Dolphins in the Super Bowl. Like, you know, I, I grew up football fan wearing awesome diapers and bibs and it’s like, I want to replicate the 17 and oh, season. I want to go undefeated. I want to, you know, win the Super Bowl. That’s a big part of it. And how I can customize that experience and train and build the team, you know, that way is a big part of who I am.

We asked who this series is actually for, as it was a point of subjectivity in our review of the first episode.

Holt: I think all of the above, to a certain extent, working with Amazon Prime and and the film makers, you know, we had those conversations that that’s the beauty of this sport. And that’s the beauty of this game that is Madden NFL is some people are going to want to understand, as longtime football fans, coach Madden and his legacy and how that worked, others are going to understand how do they make this game. And maybe I’m interested in making video games for myself. What is what is going on?

Others are just Madden fans who grew up, and they might be super fans that love the game. They might be critical fans that go, hey, I want to understand more about this. Am I being, you know, fair about the things that they say about it. But through it all, there’s this aspect of the culture of football and the culture of how Madden NFL, you know, is interwoven into that and reflects that a bit. I think you’ll find people that are all of those people coming together, just like the game pulls people together. I think this docu series will do that as well.

And as you said around Thanksgiving time, football, it’s a time for Madden and turducken and a turkey leg and anything else if you want to kind of associate with that time period. I think it’s the perfect time to release it. And you’ve got new fans that are following players and and that’s how they think about things and they’re following those players and those ratings. And there are others maybe like, you mean your brother that, you know, follow those teams and those leagues and that aspect of that legacy. How do those two things clash? And rather than clash in a more embattled way, clash in a very, you know, amalgamation way that brings everyone together? I’m hoping that’s what this docu series does. Okay, I’m hoping I have time for one more question then if that’s okay.

We asked about how the release of EA SPORTS College Football ’25 affects Madden moving forward.

Holt: I think it broadens the spectrum. You look at bringing college football back, which I was, you know, definitely wanted to see that happen. And it was a moment. It was kind of magical. But you think about the world of football from the youngest player that right now is picking up probably Madden first and playing it, then maybe going outside and playing flag football, wanting to become, you know, high school star, wanted to go to college wanting to get draft the NFL, wanting to make the Hall of Fame, wanting to make it be a coach. One who knows that full spectrum. But that’s really what it broadens and it allows us to link this totality of sport, you know, from cradle to career all the way through its possibilities. That’s exciting for us.

I think we’ve seen that with the response of college’s return and still the responsive playing Madden and how those two games are linked together. That’s what I’m hopeful of. And what we’re going to see as we move forward is, you know, how do we run that spectrum and broaden those, those opportunities for players to play things that they haven’t had the chance to play in a long, long time?

DRV: When I finished the first episode, another thought I had was, I mean, obviously you’ve been out here for over 20 years. There’s a certain reputation you guys have with the more hardcore fan base, for just about everything that he makes. And the interesting thing I saw was that the first episode talks about EA’s dealings with Nintendo and Sega.

I thought it was interesting when you guys talk about how the development team worked with Sega to create both Madden and Joe Montana and then purposely make a worse version for Joe Montana, which I think, I mean… it’s kind of icky, but at the end of the day, that’s how business is done. And I was wondering if it was if it was purposeful to have been shown under a certain light or whether it was just being real and just showing that business has been business.

Holt: I think it’s for us to be as real as possible when we’re peeling back the curtain and showing and pulling things out of the archives and showing things that we really haven’t shown the public before. But it’s a reality of of that unique instance of what was happening in that moment. And I think for us, you know, those that forms different things as you move forward. I wasn’t there at that point, you know, 30 years ago. But I’ve been here for the past 20.

And for us, it’s about how do we make the best experiences for our fans. Such that even when we bring something back, like college, that team’s going to build something unique, and Madden’s going to build something unique. They weren’t the same game. And we had that discussion from the start to make sure they felt, you know, unique to the, the, the sports that they were. I think those are the lessons that we’ve learned along the way, even while we look at video games as a business. But we’re players to and we’re creators first and foremost on the dev teams. And we want to make great games.

DRV: Awesome. That’s all I have. Thank you for your time.

Holt: Thanks and pleasure to meet you.

You can watch It’s In The Game: Madden NFL in its entirety now on Prime Video.

Note: Danreb is a former Electronic Arts employee assigned to another product. The views in this review in no way reflect his former employer’s views.

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