The Chiefs are looking to become the first NFL team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the Patriots won their second title in a row in 2005.
EA's popular Madden NFL video game predicted that Kansas City will do just that — but that its efforts will come down to the wire.
The 49ers enter Super Bowl 58 as slight favorites across most sportsbooks, but the Chiefs have a lot of recent Super Bowl experience. This is Kansas City's fourth Super Bowl appearance in the last five seasons, and the Chiefs have a 2-1 record in their previous three.
The Chiefs have the experience, defensive prowess and Patrick Mahomes. Meanwhile, the 49ers are a well-balanced team with a stacked offense featuring Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle around Brock Purdy. That puts San Francisco in a strength-on-strength matchup against Kansas City's defense, and the winner of that battle likely will win the game.
MORE: Sporting News experts make 49ers vs. Chiefs Super Bowl picks
What does Madden NFL think the final game of the season has in store? Here's a look at the video game's prediction for Super Bowl 58 and its history in predicting winners over the last two decades.
Madden 24 Super Bowl prediction
The result of Madden 24's official simulation were announced Tuesday. The game is picking the Chiefs to earn a 30-28 victory over the 49ers.
The Official #MaddenSBsim results are in....
— Madden NFL 24 (@EAMaddenNFL) February 6, 2024
The @Chiefs are your #SBLVIII Champions!🏆
Play in #Madden24 Today! pic.twitter.com/xA59L3BpEc
Unlike in previous seasons, Madden didn't elaborate on how the simulation played out. There were no highlights from the simulation, nor did the game's creators provide stats about any of the performances from the game.
As such, we're left to imagine how this simulated contest might have unfolded.
That said, given the high-scoring nature of the game, it's safe to assume that each offense played well. If we do get a shootout of this nature, both Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy will probably be on their A-game against difficult defenses that are capable of making splash plays.
But without any statistics from the game, it's hard to analyze just how accurate this simulation might be.
Madden Super Bowl predictions history
EA's Madden NFL franchise makes an official Super Bowl prediction every year and has since the 2004 Super Bowl. It correctly picked the Patriots to beat the Panthers by a field goal in that contest.
Despite its early success, Madden's Super Bowl simulation has a record of just 11-9 with its straight-up Super Bowl predictions. But the game has gone just 1-5 in the last six Super Bowls and has logged three consecutive losses entering the 2024 Super Bowl.
MORE SUPER BOWL 58: TV schedule | Halftime show | Ticket prices
While Chiefs fans won't be happy with those numbers, it's worth remembering that the most recent Super Bowl that Madden predicted correctly was the Chiefs-49ers matchup in Super Bowl 54. Perhaps Madden has a good read on those teams and is simply ready to snap its three-game losing streak.
For those wondering, the Madden Super Bowl simulation predicted the exact outcome once in its history. That came in Super Bowl 49 when the Patriots beat the Seahawks 28-24 in the famed Malcolm Butler interception game.
Below is a full list of the predictions over the last 20 years.
| Year | Madden prediction | Actual score | Correct winner? |
| Super Bowl 57 | Eagles 31, Chiefs 17 | Chiefs 38, Eagles 35 | No |
| Super Bowl 56 | Bengals 24, Rams 21 | Rams 23, Bengals 20 | No |
| Super Bowl 55 | Chiefs 37, Buccaneers 27 | Buccaneers 33, Chiefs 9 | No |
| Super Bowl 54 | Chiefs 35, 49ers 31 | Chiefs 31, 49ers 20 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 53 | Rams 30, Patriots 27 | Patriots 13, Rams 3 | No |
| Super Bowl 52 | Patriots 24, Eagles 20 | Eagles 41, Patriots 33 | No |
| Super Bowl 51 | Patriots 27, Falcons 24 | Patriots 34, Falcons 28 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 50 | Panthers 24, Broncos 20 | Broncos 24, Panthers 10 | No |
| Super Bowl 49 | Patriots 28, Seahawks 24 | Patriots 28, Seahawks 24 | Perfect |
| Super Bowl 48 | Broncos 31, Seahawks 28 | Seahawks 43, Broncos 8 | No |
| Super Bowl 47 | Ravens 27, 49ers 24 | Ravens 34, 49ers 31 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 46 | Giants 27, Patriots 24 | Giants 21, Patriots 17 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 45 | Steelers 24, Packers 20 | Packers 31, Steelers 25 | No |
| Super Bowl 44 | Saints 35, Colts 31 | Saints 31, Colts 17 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 43 | Steelers 28, Cardinals 24 | Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 42 | Patriots 38, Giants 30 | Giants 17, Patriots 14 | No |
| Super Bowl 41 | Colts 38, Bears 27 | Colts 29, Bears 17 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 40 | Steelers 24, Seahawks 19 | Steelers 21, Seahawks 10 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 39 | Patriots 47, Eagles 31 | Patriots 24, Eagles 21 | Yes |
| Super Bowl 38 | Patriots 23, Panthers 20 | Patriots 32, Panthers 29 | Yes |