Madden NFL 21 is getting its last update on franchise mode. The latest installment in the yearly franchise was notorious for having multiple bugs, which caused the hashtag #FixMaddenFranchise to go viral. Although Madden 21 had multiple updates, most of them appeared to be patches in the franchise mode. Franchise mode has been one of the main attractions of Madden, allowing users to manage teams throughout a full season. As a team manager, the user is in charge of trading players or decide the cost for game tickets. The franchise mode has been a feature in Madden games ever since Madden NFL 99.
Unfortunately, Madden NFL 21 was riddled with bugs upon release, some of which appeared right at the title screens. The game performed poorly in reviews as users decided to rate it on Metacritic right after it was released, making it score as little as 0.3. Fans recorded glitches like a ball hovering over one of the character's head as he runs through the field, or a character whose legs stop working after being tackled, causing him to lose balance.
After several updates, Madden 21 has managed to update the franchise mode so that it includes playoff brackets, an improved CPU player trade logic, and optimized player-stat cards. The upcoming and final update will further improve the CPU trade logic and will add historical context to the leagues, which will allow players to check previous record books to learn more about previous Super Bowl champions and other outstanding players.
Mostly, the latest patch focuses on improving trades overall so that more details of the players are taken into account. This means that top-tier quarterbacks will become more valuable with this update. Additionally, players' value will change depending on how long they have played for the team so that rookies are more valuable. Furthermore, the newest update will add into consideration the players' age so that their performance varies depending on how old the player is.
Seann Graddy, the executive producer for Madden NFL, has said that the development team is also working on improving the franchise mode for the upcoming installment. Madden 22 is already likely to be released later this year, and due to all the issues with Madden 21's bugs, EA will need to step up its game in order to keep fans invested in the Madden series.
Madden NFL 21 is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Game Informer