| genre = Sports
| modes = Single-player, multiplayer
Madden NFL 2005 is an American football simulation video game based on the NFL that was developed by EA Tiburon, along with Exient Entertainment and Budcat Creations, and published by EA Sports. The fifteenth installment of the Madden NFL series, it features former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis on the cover. Al Michaels and John Madden return as game commentators. Released on August 10, 2004, the game is the first Madden game to feature Xbox Live.
Development
The game had around 13,000 game testers.
Soundtrack
Madden NFL 2005s soundtrack included the song American Idiot by Green Day before its release as a single.
Reception
Depending on the platform, the game was met with mixed reviews to universal acclaim according to Metacritic, while frequently being compared to its competitor ESPN NFL 2K5. The game has also been heavily criticized for its questionable soundtrack, which was a common recurrence throughout the series. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 90.33% and 91 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version; IGN called the PS2 version the 98th best PlayStation 2 game due to its AI quality and graphics.
Many NFL players voiced their opinions on their in-game representation. Both David Bowens and Larry Chester thought their characters should be better to be more faithful to reality.
ESPN NFL 2K5 was the first in the 2K series priced at $19.99 the day it shipped, much lower than market leader Madden NFL at $49.99. This greatly reduced Madden sales that year; one EA Sports developer recalled that "[i]t scared the hell out of us". EA reduced Madden NFL 2005s price to $29.95. In December 2004 EA Sports acquired an exclusive rights agreement with the NFL and NFLPA to be the sole creator of NFL video games a deal that has since been renewed multiple times and is still active as of the 2024 NFL season.
The game sold more than 4 million copies the year it was released.