Because actually waiting until the launch day to play Madden 17 is lame.
The Madden 17 release date is one of those wink, wink deals. That’s because while the official launch may be on August 23, pretty much everyone knows you can play it the night before, as the game is available at midnight Eastern.
The thing is, you can’t just waltz into any store that sells video games late tonight to buy the game. That’s a good way to get yourself arrested, seeing as most of those stores will be, you know, closed.
Let’s try to avoid that and point you in the direction of retailers that will have midnight release hours for Madden 17.
GameStop
Happily, the first name that probably pops into your head when it comes to buying video games has a dedicated page to make it easy to see if their locations near you will be open at midnight Eastern to get Madden 17 in your anxious hands. It’s probably worth pre-ordering a copy so you can get the bonus goodies, and you should still be able to do that. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will also be available tonight.
Best Buy
Unlike GameStop, Best Buy doesn’t have nearly as many stores open at midnight for the Madden 17 release, but it’s still worth checking. This chain also has a special page for doing just that, and you can get some advance notice of midnight sales for other upcoming video games while you’re there.
Download digitally
There’s something to be said for going out and hanging with fellow sports gamers at an actual midnight release, but if you’d rather buy Madden 17 from the comfort of your own home, that’s also an option. Download it from the PlayStation Store or the Microsoft Store and you’ll be able to play on your PS4 or Xbox One at 12:01 a.m. ET. That’s if it finishes downloading in time — it’s reportedly just shy of 25 GB — so you might want to get on that now if that’s your play.
Whatever you choose, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be playing later tonight. Enjoy!