10 Video Game Conspiracy Theories You'll Start To Believe

4. Madden Have More Control Than They Seem

Saddam Hussein ps2
EA Sports

The second you start talking about curses, you're bound to receive a deluge of sneers and cynical eyebrows. But there are people who take the Madden Curse very seriously.

So, what is it? Basically, EA releases a Madden game every year, each one sporting a professional athlete on the front cover. But for the last twenty years, many people noticed that the footballers who appeared on the cover suffer from a massive decline in performance that corresponding season.

Marshall Faulk, Peyton Hills, Vince Young suffered heavy injuries after appearing on the cover. Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick, Shaun Alexander, Troy Polamalu, and Rob Gronowski also had underwhelming seasons immediately after they were plastered on the game's poster.

But the weirdness doesn't stop there. In 2015, EA released a trailer to promote Madden 15 where the New England Patriots defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24. Several weeks later, that's EXACTLY what happened.

So, what does this mean? Is it possible EA is rigging upcoming games and jeopardising player's winning streaks? Even though it's tempting to brush this all off as a coincidence, many NFL players are so scared of the Madden Curse, some refused to appear on the cover for the Madden games when offered.

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows