On July 11th there were leaked screenshots of Madden 21 The Yard in the main menu screen. In there included the usual suspects, Ultimate Team, Franchise THAT STILL HASN’T BEEN FIXED, Face of The Franchise, Superstar K.O THAT NOBODY ASKED FOR and The Yard.
EA has never advertised The Yard, so we have no clue what it is. However, it’s a solid assumption to make that this will be connected to Face of The Franchise like how The Park is connected to MyCareer in NBA 2k. Later screenshots soon proved this to be accurate.
The description in the main menu says:
A new take on Madden with backyard rules! Play 6v6 with your friends to earn unique rewards for you Superstar.
Two things.
- Nobody asked for this and this solves absolutely nothing when it comes to Franchise’s patch notes.
- This PROVES that competition is what EA needs to get their act together and finally add something to franchise
2K games signed a multi-year deal to create “Non-simulation” football games. EA Sports has the simulation rights, meaning that they are the only company that can make a simulation style franchise mode and have done absolutely nothing with it recently. However, 2K’s rights are not exclusive like EA’s are. This means that EA can add non-simulation game modes to their games, just look at Ultimate Team and Superstar K.O.
Now that EA isn’t the only game on the market for non-simulation games, the competition is on. EA was not going to let 2K just have the entire non-simulation market to themselves, so they stepped their game up. They added an entire new game mode with new mechanics, a new style and a way to tie into Face of The Franchise. This is why the NFL NEEDS to take away EA’s exclusive rights to a simulation style football game. Bringing a competitor into the market is what it will take to push EA to really develop franchise. Look back at the early 2000s when both 2K and EA were producing football games with NFL licensing. Franchise had so much more depth, if EA added those features back franchise would be so much better. After all, Franchise barely got a GUI update…
Competition is healthy, it brings out the best in people and companies. Madden 21 The Yard is proof of this. The NFL NEEDS to take away EA’s exclusive rights and open the door for football video games. This would end EA’s monopoly on the market and force them to actually improve their game. I’m not buying the game until improvements are actually made to franchise. #FixMaddenFranchise
