Madden 21 Franchise Mode Improvements Announced

EA has announced the first of three planned updates coming to Madden NFL 21’s Franchise Mode which will include some requested features from the community. The updates are announced on the heels of a fan backlash to the newest iteration of Madden. The following updates are planned for mid-November and are only the first of three planned post-launch updates. Check out the following changes coming to Madden 21 below as revealed in a new blog post:  

• X-Factor/Superstar Ability Customization: This highly requested feature by the community allows commissioners to assign X-Factors to any player via the edit player feature. Once a player has met the criteria to unlock an X-Factor ability, commissioners will be able to edit their player's Superstar abilities and Superstar X-Factor ability by selecting from those available within his position group. Users will have control over this functionality in both offline and online Franchises.
• Player Card Career Stats UI: A top community request for several years now, the team is revamping the statistics on the player card to include more context in season stats, like week, opponent, and outcome, while also providing what team the player was on for every year of their career.
• Dev Trait Regression Tuning: The team is doing tuning work to player development traits in Franchise mode to ensure a proper balance of Superstar and X-Factor players when progressing multiple years in a Franchise.
• Playoff Bracket: A visual playoff bracket will be added into the game that reflects the new Wild Card format, allowing users to see the full playoff picture.

  [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/16/madden-21-official-reveal-trailer"] There has been a backlash to Madden 21 over a variety of grievances, including missing features in the series’ long-running Franchise Mode. Social media hashtags like #FixMaddenFranchise and #NFLDropEA have trended at various times since launch, driven by unhappy players. IGN’s Madden 21 review highlighted frustrations with the Franchise Mode and its failures to differentiate itself from previous versions. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.