EA is Apparently Going to Actually Try to Improve Madden??

Report: Madden NFL 24 will be a “make or break” release for the franchise.

Big changes are coming.

The negative response to the game, which management believes is completely justified, has forced many inside EA to have a “now or never” mentality, per @InsiderGamingIG pic.twitter.com/vBrmrBPPjS

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 21, 2023

Madden is my favorite video game. I played a couple games before I started blogging today. I've gotten almost every year's game since I was in middle school. Anybody with a brain knows the product has been trash for far too long.

EA knows that there are plenty of football fans (like the dude writing this blog) addicted to the thrill of competition and outsmarting strangers. So they update the rosters, change two things (usually the kicking meter), and call it a day. It's fucked. I stopped playing franchise mode a couple of years ago and didn't realize there was a significant issue with file corruption. I just learned this during blog prep and was pretty shocked.

via: Insider Gaming

Madden 23 has been caught up in controversy after controversy over the last few months, and EA management has taken notice. Sources have told Insider Gaming that Madden 24 is a "make or break" release for the franchise.

"The discount for players who lost their franchise is only the beginning," one close to the game’s development said. "EA has big plans for Madden 24 and the management of the game knows how big of a year it is. Not just for the game, but for their future in their positions."

The discount being referred to is the 50% discount EA announced for any Madden 23 players that lost their Connected Franchise save due to an update pushed by the team at EA Tiburon causing save files to become corrupted. Those players will also receive an invite to the game’s closed beta.

Another source says that the game's sales ultimately won’t matter as much for Madden 24. If the game releases and suffers similar issues to Madden 23, it’s going to lead to a lot of change among the game's leadership.
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The negative response to the game, which management believes is completely justified by the franchise corruption issues, has forced many inside EA Tiburon to have a "now or never" mentality surrounding the franchise.

Since EA has an exclusive license to produce the only NFL video game, they've been mailing it in since Brett Favre was behind center (and long before he defrauded poor people). The lack of competition has caused the product to suffer (no way??). I'm glad to see them at least vocalize that change is coming.

I love John Madden. He is football. His name being on the game used to mean something. When I started playing Madden, it was his voice on the call. All the fans are asking for is a game that doesn't suck. Take some pride in your work one fucking time, EA. How is it that Madden 04 is significantly better than any game of the last decade? Madden 04 is gonna turn 20 years old this fall!!! Imagine if all technology peaked in 2004??

Sometimes I feel like football fans, in general, sort of romanticize NFL 2K5, but I had that game, and it was fucking incredible. All the hype is valid AF. First off, it was only $20. The gameplay was so ahead of its time. How is it that I'm in my 30s, and football games were at their best when I was a tween?

I wrote a filler blog last about the 10 Madden Commandments, and tbh it's not my best work (I lost stream after like 6 things I was really passionate about), but I think most Madden fans agree there are some simple solutions to improve the game. I'm gonna spitball a few and that will be it for this blog. I don't need to get on my soapbox about how greed and a lack of competition (what are those a product of again?) lead to the demise of one of the premiere video games ever created. Let's just hope the game improves, and if it doesn't, hopefully some other company takes the reins and comes up with something better. Here's some free advice from your boi Ole Dozo to bring Madden back to its former glory and beyond.

• Bring back the mini-games from Madden 04 (they may have been in other games too). Coffin corner punting made special teams fun. The tackling drills were great. This is a no-brainer fix.
• Improve gameplay. It's way too easy to score and impossible to play defense. Unless you force a turnover, it's way too hard to play D. Also, I know superstars are superstars, but it's so unrealistic when they have Mahomes or Allen flick the ball 75 yards effortlessly.
• Give players secondary positions. Most sports games have this feature, and it's fucking stupid that you can use Deebo Samuel in his wide-back role with the 49ers, but he's rated as a 0 overall running back and fumbles every other carry. He's probably like a 81 overall as a running back. It does the same thing with DL that play FB. Like yeah, if you put Tom Brady at running back, he's a 0 overall, but Deebo's rushed for 782 yards and 13 scores as a part-time back.
  • To build off this, you should accurately be able to put any player in any position. This was a feature in Madden 04, and I broke the single-game reception record with Tedy Bruschi. It's a video game!!!
• Simplify create-a-playbook. I loved making custom playbooks a few years back, but it's either unavailable or much less user-friendly now...can't remember which! lol
• Fix Franchise Mode (self-explanatory)
• Bring back classic and current game scenarios.
  • You used to be able to plug yourself into these situations and try to recreate or rewrite history. It was super fun and should be in every game and updated frequently.
• Improve create-a-team in every possible aspect.
• Fix postgame replays.
  • How is it that a 7-yard carry in the 2nd quarter will have a highlight video but not a game-winning touchdown?
• I wouldn't mind more on-screen graphics with stats.
  • Like in 2K, where the player with the ball can have their stats in the top corner, it should be the same with ball-carriers after each play. 
• More throwback uniforms
  • There are a solid amount of options, but not all. Like I use the AFL version of the Pats white throwbacks, but not the ones they used from 1970-1992, which are different!! 
    • There are multiple examples of this where only one version of throwback is available instead of both road and home.
      • Now that I say that, you used to be able to mix & match. Bring that shit back too!

I'm sure there's more, but I think that's plenty of free advice for a company that actively robs its users. I love John Madden and hope the game named after him can get back to its glory days or find a new home that will give it the respect it deserves.