John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster, remained deeply involved with the development of the game that bears his name from its inception in 1988 to this upcoming title, sharing many conversations with Oldenburg about the game’s direction and other details. Madden’s passing in December 2021 gives Madden NFL 23 an additional air of importance for those who create it.
Madden’s face was regularly on the cover of the game until crazy 2000, after which the company began casting an NFL player to appear up front. For Madden NFL 23, Madden’s likeness returns. The game will also include a “Madden Legacy” feature, allowing players to use previous All-Madden teams at the original Oakland Coliseum.
this is not just another To get mad launch: it is intended as a way to honor the man who fostered a love of the sport in millions of people.
In my experience, EA Sports is well on its way to achieving that goal.
The development team heard a number of complaints about problems in Madden NFL 22, from quarterbacks’ wrestling ability overpowered to zone coverage shortcomings that didn’t quite match what you see on NFL fields every Sunday. In response, they added items to adequately execute the coverage in Madden NFL 23 according to the established rules of the real world. They also reduced players’ special abilities, to make their immediate scramble attempts less effective, and improved Quick Pass to shorten the time available to throw a pass. As real-life running backs and cornerbacks rise in prominence in the NFL, so will their virtual counterparts, playing the ball with greater precision.
“That’s great,” McHardy said, “because when you think about how people played the game last year and before, they were trying to get to the quarterback, and when the ball went up in the air, you were switching and trying to find the interception, which isn’t really what should be happening when you think about it.”
The goal of all of this is simple: tweak and improve the game to more closely resemble real-world soccer and give players the control they want to decide the outcome on the virtual pitch.
“To be able to make that change, to give defenses the ability to find different ways to get off the field, that was one of the goals when we talked about agency and control…” McHardy said. “It really changes the way you think about defense, which is also reflected in game decision and a lot of other things, and brings a lot more of the strategy and the game of chess into the game.”
The improvements to the game around the off-field action are also going in the right direction. EA Sports is including additional exploration updates in Madden NFL 23. Free agency has been given more depth and variety; amateur GMs must deal with individual AI players who now have motivations that extend far beyond the dollar. The development team reduced the size of the playbooks (some had included up to 440 moves) to improve the AI’s execution and play selection.
And with NFL teams defying precedent and conventional wisdom through blockbuster trades that shake the landscape of the league, To get mad aims to keep up with the times through another improvement in trading logic.
“Some of these NFL trades that get done, there’s not a chart that anyone can follow to understand what the logic is,” Oldenburg said. “So as real life continues to evolve, the franchise mode will continue to evolve along with it.”
Evolution seems to be the key word to move forward, especially through Madden NFL 23life cycle of . Collaboration it could be another, considering that EA Sports has opened a hotline for gamers to discuss the ratings of their favorite players. EA Sports told me that they have received more than 7,000 calls from players questioning the ratings, opening another line of dialogue between the company and the consumer.