Madden 21 franchise mode reveal was even worse than expected

Like many Madden players, I had marked Tuesday June 30 on my calendar, and from the look of the online responses, I’m not the only one to be disappointed with the revelations of the Madden 21 franchise feature.

Honestly, expectations were low and what was shown is even worse than expected.

Franchise face reveal

Most of the information was in The Face of the Franchise career mode, which has been bundled with franchise mode. That’s part of the problem, as it appears EA is moving toward phasing out the concept that led so many fans to make the game an institution across the United States.

Career modes and franchise modes are different.

Still, FOTF sounds decent enough, but as you take a look at what EA released in this mode, it’s not at all innovative as the career modes progress. You create a player in high school, fight a rival for the starting QB position, win state championships, commit to one of the 10 universities (real life schools licensed to participate in the game).

There you try to win national championships by participating in the college football playoffs (all licensed in real life), and then move on to what might have been the most intriguing aspect of the mode, the NFL Combine. At one point, Madden had these amazing training mini-games. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen them since 2007. Instead, it seems like you can only run the 40-yard dash, which turned out to be the worst-conceived minigame in the glory years of Madden’s franchise mode.

There’s also an RPG-like interview taking place where you can decide which team you’ll play for, or you can allow fate to take its course based on your answers to specific questions. Once he is in the NFL, there are several different stories that will unfold in relation to his character, who will certainly have the opportunity to change his position in college if he wishes.

Ultimately, he’s looking to have an outstanding career leading to a Hall of Fame induction. Essentially what Madden is offering here is what 2K has been providing fans with the MyCareer experience for years. Oddly enough, 2K fans are tired of the heavy stories and cut scenes because MyCareer’s journey is tied to many other modes that don’t necessarily marry well with its branching features, but that’s another full article. .

FOTF is also a cross between Madden’s story-based Longshot concept and its more traditional single-player control approach to the connected franchise.

As I said, nothing new or innovative.

To be fair, you’re likely to have fun in this mode, and some will enjoy it for what it is, but this option looks even weaker due to the second half of Tuesday’s feature reveal.

Classic franchise mode Reveal

The classic franchise mode updates are so small that it’s really embarrassing. EA was right to call this “Classic Franchise Updates”, because as a staunch member of the sports gaming community put it on Twitter, this is nothing more than a review note.

Others on Twitter voiced their discontent over the lack of new features, or the return of any of the old ones that fans hoped to see restarted.

Even NFL players are taking photos for lack of attention to mode:

To be honest, I could have posted tweets from disappointed fans for days, but you get the point. What’s worse is that the results of a survey I conducted a few days ago proved unfortunately accurate since the vast majority did not expect much from Tuesday’s revelation.

If it’s really a “classic franchise” why not go back to where you were at your best instead of this minimalist approach?

It seems that the reason for the constant neglect and not-so-subtle elimination of franchise mode is due to the amount of money the Ultimate Team concept generates annually.

It’s no secret that the mode is the Madden Universe’s cash cow. Between Madden and FIFA, EA raises revenue of just under $ 1.5 billion for Ultimate Team modes annually. I get it, only a fool couldn’t feed that kind of monstrous money driver, but one has to wonder, isn’t there anything left for EA to sacrifice for the sake of a loyal fan base that has enjoyed their game for years, and in many cases passed on the passion for the product from one generation to the next?

Based on the protests on social media, you would think there is still something to be gained by appeasing a significant enough audience at least once every three years.

Instead, there’s the above that can’t be taken as anything other than an insult to an entire section of the game’s fan base.