Whether or not you think Madden NFL 21’s gameplay has stagnated, there’s simply no denying that this year’s game lacks polish. Since reviewing the release, the title has hard crashed on us a couple of times, and has also got stuck in infinite loading screens. It’s really buggy, and some fans have simply had enough, leading to the hashtag #NFLDropEA trending on Twitter.
EA Sports does seem to understand that this year’s game isn’t good enough. Earlier in the year it released a statement outlining its plans for the future of Franchise mode, which has come in for serious criticism. Now it’s released early patch notes for the game’s next major update, which is set to coincide with the start of the new football season.
Among the improvements are a ton of bug fixes, so hopefully the title will be much more stable once the patch drops. There are also a bunch of gameplay tweaks as well, such as changes to the way the QB Contain mechanic works against play-action passes, and logic alterations to the Throw Out of Sack system which prevents quarterbacks from tossing the ball when they’re tackled on their throwing arm.
Madden Ultimate Team will also be getting quicker menus, while the Yard will be adding leaderboards. EA Sports says that it will outline the first of three Franchise mode updates towards the beginning of the NFL season, and it will also provide general timelines for when they’ll be available. There’ll be no real changes to the mode in this upcoming patch.
The publisher is being particularly candid right now, which suggests it’s definitely feeling the heat. The game is the worst reviewed Madden of the generation, and while there are things to like about the package, such as its new Yard mode, the company’s going to have to do better if it wants to win fans back around ahead of the release of the next-gen version a little later in the year.
[source ea.com]
Comments 16
If not ditch, then they need to allow competition. Force the games to attempt to be better.
This is literally a prime example of why monopolies are bad. Anybody who needs a reason to support fair competition, this is it.
It’s been many years since I played Madden, but it’s gotten that bad huh? Not surprised by this.
People need to stop buying this crap. It's like you know it's going to be bad, so why are you surprised?
It's like if I drunk milk, ate ice cream, and devoured a pot of beef stroganoff, and was surprised when my intestines shoot out of me like a snake in a can.
The fact the NFL only lets EA publish games with their brand shows they don't care at all.
UFC need to ditch EA as well.
After reviews have already gone out for UFC 4 (which is horribly buggy & is missing a lot of elements from UFC), they patched in-game ads into the 4 week old game last night.
I hope @get2sammyb picks this up. EA are nickle & dimming us for a full price game, that already has microtransactions as a focus
#UFCdropEA 🖕🏻
EA are the soulless, corporate suits of the gaming world.
They are always releasing products before they are ready just so they hit their annual release targets and the greedy shareholders can rake in the money dropped by the boards of brain dead gamers willing to part with their money just for slightly altered versions of their favourite sports games.
The NFL, FIFA and the UFC will not drop them until they stop making them money.
The solution? #GamersDropEA
The monopoly itself wasn’t the issue - look at the NBA 2k franchise. That isn’t an exclusive and yet only one game comes out. The issue for both games is greed. The Ultimate team mode and card mode in NBA make so much money it’s all both companies care about.
Madden and FIFA put zero effort or small effort into career mode same as 2k and as a result there has been zero progress in the games last gen to this gen. graphics and gameplay some advance but in terms of career and depth it’s very similar.
But lets be fair this is true of the whole gen really. Focus on “seasons” and game passes and shoe horning games as service everywhere has held back the gen.
I worry it’s just gonna get worse
I’m not sure 2k releasing a NFL game at this point would help!
Although the more sports games the better
Quicker ultimate team menus to make sure you buy more microtransactions faster
Watch Angry Joe's video on YouTube Man he goes mad over these games(i.e they drive him mad) and I just couldn't believe how EA just recycle the game each year :-/ And they make Billions to from it?!?! Hmm, I am glad I hardly buy EA sports games(maybe 1 FIFA game each Gen and that is it thanks)
"EA doesn't seem to understand"....
THEY. DON'T. CARE. until people stop buying, they couldn't care less if the game is any good. we'll be reading this same article in 5 years .
@Stocksy Competition is EXACTLY what EA and 2K need. While NBA 2K as a GAME is still excellent, not having another company making a competing product has definitely led them down a bad road as well. EA is just the WORST lol.
@armondo36 but it’s made no difference to the NBA games. Fifa and PES are both stagnant and terrible.
Pack modes is the reason sporting games have stalled.
2k would focus on VC like in the NBA series. That series has gone backwards too
so the madden fans have finally woken up from their slumber? too late guys... you supported this crap for decades.
@Stocksy Competition is what's needed but won't happen and I think it will get worse next gen unless governments ban such things and new features that are the same thing but renamed or different way to do it
I thought COVID was going to hurt the NFL. I never thought EA would do more harm
@Stocksy Here's the difference: many people prefer PES to FIFA. if EA had their way, PES wouldn't exist. EA has no choice but to at least TRY TO MAKE FIFA better. Live isn't great, but if EA had their way (and they TRIED), NBA 2k wouldn't exist. if EA wants to get back into the basketball video game business, they would have to actually like...try to make a good game (which might explain why they aren't really making LIVE?). having a choice is ALWAYS better. the people who make Madden will just laugh as long as the drones just buy Madden anyway.
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