EA Sports’ Madden NFL has come under fire in recent years with customers feeling dissatisfied with the game’s current state. While no game is perfect, games with yearly releases hardly see such a steady decrease in quality each year. From Connected Franchise Mode to Ultimate Team, Madden has removed fan-favorite features, added unnecessary changes, or flat-out ruined key components in the game. As we reach the end of the Madden 24 lifecycle, it is time to look forward to the near future of Madden.
Revamp Scouting
The scouting feature in CFM was changed in Madden 22, completely stripping it down and making the process less immersive and almost useless. The current system is confusing and lacks a proper tutorial on maximizing its potential. The old system was broken, allowing players to fully scout every prospect in the upcoming draft class.
Finding a healthy balance is difficult, but allowing teams to fully scout a few players of their choice, rather than half-scouting entire position groups, is a step in the right direction.
Make Madden Ultimate Team Casual
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Competitivity is always great for the health of a game and its community, but Madden Ultimate Team tends to favor players who have the time to grind challenges or those who choose to spend money on player packs. For the casual player, loading up a game and seeing a team of all 99 overalls line up against your team of base players is discouraging, especially when it happens almost every game. Pay-to-win games rarely last long in the gaming industry, but with no competition in the NFL market, EA can continue to release unfair gameplay every year.
Even for players who commit to the grind or purchase packs, a heavy meta is still involved in deciding which player cards are good. Meta gameplay in sports games sucks the fun and creativity out of the game and forces almost all teams to look and play the same. As funny as it may be, watching a 300-pound out-of-position defensive tackle play safety and shut down half the field is frustrating after so many games.
Extended Lifecycle
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Changing Madden from a yearly release to just every other year would bring meaningful change to the game. In reality, the only changes made from year to year, other than rosters, are an updated scoreboard and slight player movement physics. The roster changes are never drastic enough to warrant an entirely new game, especially since you can import custom rosters into the previous game. Giving developers more time to work on the game will make each release feel fresh rather than another reskin of the same game.
EA has already seen success using a multi-year release cycle with the UFC series. While there may not be much change year to year in the UFC world, there is an equally insignificant change in the NFL every season. The most common big changes, such as a new jersey design, can be added with a simple update.
Update Teamplay
The Teamplay mode, now NFL mode in Superstar KO, lets you and up to two friends play on the same team against other users. Teamplay was removed for several years in Madden and only recently returned. The current version of Teamplay does not allow you to play a full game against friends, meaning you are limited to playing on the same console if you want to play against friends using real teams.
Games that maximize every game mode to its full potential tend to have much more success. By leaving Teamplay in the dark, EA is killing an entertaining mode and making their product bland. Opening new ways to play gives gamers variety and makes the experience more unique.
Expand on CFM Yearly Awards and Stats
Simulating real life, pressuring the Quarterback (QB) in Madden greatly impacts the play. EA has shown they can track QB pressures from week to week in the pregame cut scene but does not track them throughout the season. Seeing the statistic tracking dig deeper to include impactful stats will make CFM more immersive and realistic.
Madden does not differentiate between off-ball linebackers and edge-rushing linebackers. The lack of distinction skews the Best Linebacker (LB) award in favor of edge rushers primarily because they get more sacks. Adding a Best Edge Rusher award and using that to separate pass-rushing linebackers and off-ball LBs will better mirror real life and allow more players in a Franchise to earn accolades.
Additionally, the tight-end position has no yearly award option. In the picture above, tight end Travis Kelce finished top-5 in every major receiving stat but is not recognized for his impressive season. Since there is typically a large drop-off in tight-end talent, the best wide receiver award should be changed to the best receiver to include tight ends. Although it is rare, tight ends have dominated in the NFL in the past and deserve recognition in Madden.
