Reports in recent weeks have begun to circulate the internet stating that EA Sports feels that Madden 24 will be a make or break game for the long running football franchise. The pressure on the studio has come about due to the widespread issues found in Madden 23, as fans of the series constantly bombarded the internet and the studio with a lot of issues involved in the game play. This came after both Madden 22 and 21 were poorly received by the online gaming community as well. The pressure is being placed on the franchise that has defined NFL football video games since 1988. The game originally came out and was praised for providing a realistic ability to indulge in professional football on whatever gaming console was available at the time. This trend continued for many years and Madden beat out other competitors including another sports gaming giant in 2k Studios. The game in recent years has not had any competition and this has led to the criticism of the studio releasing the same game over and over again while just updating the rosters and other minute changes that do not affect the overall gameplay.
Every game that is released every year is graded by many different sites but one of the more reliable ones is Metacritic, and since Madden 20 the franchise has seen a significant drop in its favorability. Madden 20 received a 76, which although not high is deemed as passable but since every game has fallen into the 60’s or below. Now this comes down to the issues of just the working mechanics of gameplay but another factor significantly affecting the game is the Ultimate team mode. The Ultimate Team mode was released in the 2011 iteration of the game, which at the time was met with high praise. Anyone who started with the mode knew you completed certain challenges or other objectives to obtain player packs which contained different players, of different ratings while attempting to create the highest rated team possible. Now by completing these challenges or winning games the player earns coins which can be used to purchase these packs from in-game. However, the franchise also added the ability for users to acquire Madden points which is done by using real money to add in-game currency, also known as micro-transactions.
The issue of micro-transactions is not exclusive to just the Madden franchise or even Electronic Arts in general. In both EA Madden, FIFA, and NHL these ultimate team modes reward those who spend absurd amounts of money on these modes by allowing them to purchase more packs at a higher rate, which then improves the users ability to acquire the highest overall cards faster. This has begun to isolate those casual players, who if the game was balanced would play more online modes as they’d be on an even playing field with those who choose to spend their money. I am not advocating for the removal of micro-transactions, I feel as if that’s how people choose to spend their money that’s fine. Those who choose not to spend money though should have more opportunities within the game to play more challenges or invest time aka “grinding” in order to be rewarded with just as good players that are not acquired from the game's packs.
I am someone who has played both Madden, FIFA, and 2k Studios NBA games for almost a decade now and I have seen the investment in micro-transactions increase so often and these companies profit margins continue to grow due to the cash flow that they provide. Madden 24 needs to find a way to balance not only these online modes but their franchise and career mode as well. Not only is EA releasing the new NFL game in the next 6 months, however the now revived NCAA Football is also being released from their company and a failure on one of the most beloved game franchises would really mean the company needs to change.
Unfortunately due to the notoriety the games have had for so long the developers have not tried to improve significantly from year to year however, the cries from the community cannot be ignored any longer and if the game fails the company does feel there will be major changes to those developing the game. Some of the major calls other than the online mode includes adjusting how to improve the “Franchise” mode where a player can take over as a coach, or an owner and try to create a dynasty across multiple seasons. Players want an improved and more realistic experience that the developer has not done in several years. These wants from fans are something that does not seem like a huge undertaking by the developer, however as long as the game does not provide the same “cookie-cutter” model it has done for the last 7 or 8 years fans probably would be happy.
Image: San Diego Studios
If Electronic Arts is looking to make any significant changes going forward, another developer that they can take an example of how to run a sports video gaming franchise is San Diego Studios and its game MLB The Show. The MLB the Show franchise was started in 2006, and was exclusively a Playstation exclusive up until 2021. The game has not expanded onto both Xbox and Nintendo Switch platforms and has received very favorable reviews due to how the game developers listen to the community and try to constantly keep content fresh. The game also allows fans to purchase packs through micro-transactions but there are plenty of free cards available to those who want to “grind” and stay competitive with other online players. The ability to stay competitive with those who do spend money should be important for these online competitive features as the wider number of gamers are certainly more casual and may not have the financial means to spend hundreds of dollars on a game every year.
MLB the Show I think is leading the way for how sports gaming franchises should be modeled in the present and going into the future. Although it is not without its issues as fans have also claimed for revamps to the Career and Franchise modes, although for the most part the gameplay is really smooth and some updates to those should be easy to do as well. However, my biggest issue with the EA and 2k sports franchises is that expecting fans to spend, at a minimum, $70 a year for current generation consoles releases every year is quite ridiculous when all they have seemingly done is tweak graphics and update rosters. Madden has had sole ability on the football market for sometime and fans will begin to call for an alternative if serious changes are not made going into the future.
I do not want to see these sports games begin to die, as they have been staples for a wide amount of video game fans for decades at this point. However, the major studio developers in Electronic Arts and 2k studios should really take a page out of the book of the smaller San Diego Studios in order to find fresh ways to get out better products and stronger content. This certainly deals with NCAA Football franchises as mentioned above. The NCAA football games have not been released since 2014 and obviously with the inclusion of NIL deals it might be difficult to get some players to sign up for their likeness. The major points being asked of by fans of this game is a strong “Road to Glory '' mode in which the created player starts a few games in high school in order to gain college offers and then spend several seasons gaining experience nad hopefully leading to a national championship. In previous iterations of the game players could take their graduating seniors and upload them into the Madden franchise which would be amazing to see now that both games are back under the same developer. Another mode in NCAA is the “Dynasty” mode which allows for upwards of 50 seasons for a player to be a coach and develop a college football program through recruiting and gameplay and hopefully this will be expansive as well and give as much control as possible to the players.
The future of sports games franchises seems to be in a state of limbo currently as there is more pressure now than ever for these developers to create better products for their consumers especially as this is the 4th year of the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X. Developers should overhaul many features in order to give the best game possible on the current generation consoles. I look forward to what Electronic Arts can produce this year and hopefully it will result in a revamped product that is widely received by the community. However, if they fail the internal changes could result in a new game as well, as fans of the gaming community will have to just wait and see at this current time.