Madden NFL cover star will be Calvin Johnson

Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson has been chosen as the face of this year's Madden NFL.

The athlete was chosen through a seven-week voting process hosted by EA Sports, which boasts of 19.6 million participants.

Johnson was a number six seed but won out in the final round against Cam Newton by a tight margin - 52% to 48%. On his path to glory, Johnson took out teammate Matt Stafford, Dwayne Bowe, Arian Foster, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Rodgers to prove a firm fan favourite.

“This year’s cover voting campaign had more rounds, more players and more votes than ever before, generating great conversations and debates amongst the fans and NFL players across multiple ESPN platforms and throughout social media. The amount of support that Johnson generated nationally and in his home market of Detroit was staggering," Madden NFL 13 marketing director Anthony Stevenson said.

EA Sports took the opportunity to announce the latest entry's inevitable improvements and changes. Presentation is a big focus this year, with all new commentators, but EA Sports will also debit a new "read and react" defensive AI system.

The publisher is also teasing a series of reveals over the next few months, including a June 4 announce of a "monumental change to Madden NFL gameplay" which will create "the most authentic football experience to date, blurring the line between virtual and reality".

Madden NFL 13 is expected on August 28, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.