EA Sports was widely criticized earlier this week when it announced the first details on Madden NFL 21‘s Franchise modes. The Franchise mode from previous games will now be called “Classic Franchise,” and this year’s changes amount to what could be considered basic patch notes from last year’s game.
EA has now released a new video in which Madden NFL 21 producer Seann Graddy acknowledged the negative feedback and promised that EA will be looking to “bolster” the mode with this year’s game and beyond.
“We see your ‘fix Madden Franchise’ tweets and we understand your frustration,” Graddy said. “The Franchise community is critically important to us, and we appreciate your passion for Madden NFL. We’re reading your feedback and we clearly understand that you want more. We’ve seen requests for details around what the Franchise community can expect moving forward. And while I don’t have a lot of details I can share with you right now, I can tell you that today, our team is actively working on bolstering plans to support Franchise in Madden NFL 21 and beyond.”
Graddy went on to say that the Madden NFL 21 development team is currently heads down working on finishing the game for release in August–and from a new work-from-home set-up. Any changes or improvements for Madden NFL 21’s Classic Franchise would seemingly not come until after release. Graddy said it’s important to EA to begin this dialogue and let fans know that the developer is listening and that it hopes to be able to share more details on their thoughts and plans in the future.
While Classic Franchise isn’t getting much attention in Madden NFL 21, EA is beefing up the other Franchise mode, Face of the Franchise. In this mode, you will create a character and guide them all the way from high school through college and then into the NFL. And unlike in previous years, after college you can choose to switch from QB to a running back or a wide receiver.
On top of that, EA is adding more celebrities to the acting cast. Your rival, Tommy Mathews, will be played by X-Men and Ready Player One star Tye Sheridan. Third Watch and ER actor Michael Beach will play an interviewer character, while Shazam actor Cooper Andrews will play your high school football coach. Robert Patrick, who played T-1000 in Terminator 2, will be your college coach. Rapper and actor Snoop Dogg and TV journalist Rich Eisen will play themselves.
Madden NFL 21 released on August 28 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, before coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X later in the year. A closed beta test for Madden NFL 21 is going on right now, and here’s how to find a code to get in.
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