Madden 23 – What We Know and What We Want
It’s that time of year again. Summer has passed, and fall is upon us. That means new sports games come out. Madden 23 is a couple of weeks away, and I cannot wait for the release. If it’s anything like the beta, it should be an awesome year for football fans. Here is what we know and what we want for Madden 23.
What We Know
Release Date
The release date of Madden 23 has been confirmed for a while. The All Madden release date ($100 version) is set to release on August 16th, giving 3 days of early access. On the other hand, the standard version ($70 version) is set to release on August 19th. This has typically when Madden has been released in the past, so no surprise there.
New Features
EA is talking about some new features that will be added into Madden 23, which has fans excited. Some new features are what is making this product different from its predecessor, Madden 22. They include 360-degree hard cuts, new physics based around tackling, a new passing system allowing the user to pinpoint exactly where the ball should be, and much more. In addition, Escape Artist got removed (essentially, now it’s an XF and hard to obtain). As an avid Madden player, I was happy with how the beta was. Yes, there were some bugs, obviously, but the new game should be super intriguing.
Cover Athlete
Earlier in the year, everyone was speculating who would be on this year’s upcoming game. Some thought Derrick Henry, Aaron Donald, or Josh Allen. Unfortunately, the sports world lost a legend, John Madden himself, last December. At that moment, everyone knew who the cover athlete would be. His legendary coaching career and broadcasting stint gave football fans so many memories. EA did the right thing and gave him the cover of Madden 23. Props to them.
What We Want
Cross Play
Undoubtedly, everyone’s wish list for Madden 23 should include cross play, in my opinion. I don’t see a reason it shouldn’t be cross-platform. We are in 2022 and just about every single multiplayer game has it. Why haven’t you added it, EA? You should have the money and resources to do it, I don’t see what the issue is. It’s driving fans crazy that this is not in the game yet. It would drive your sales upwards, I promise. A good game, plus it being cross-platform equals big time sales.
Improved Playbooks
I have no idea what the playbook guy at EA is doing, but he needs to get on it. The playbooks I saw in the beta were downright atrocious. They wanted to downsize the playbooks, I get that. However, there were maybe 5 useable formations in the game (from a competitive standpoint) and it was not fun. Add some new plays, use new formations (Bunch X Nasty in the Rams was a good start), and make it unique. For example, add the flea flicker back. Teams use it when setting up the run, so why not have it in Madden? As someone who plays the game often, I want to see something other than Gun Bunch on Gun Bunch. Make the playbooks unique or at least revert them to how they were before, that’s the best you can do.
Improved Zones/Player Awareness
This has been a mess all year in Madden 22, I hope they fix it for 23. Zones played awesome in the beta, don’t get me wrong (sometimes a little too psychic). However, allow my defenders to be aware of what is going on in the end zone. There will be multiple instances where a route will run to the back of the end zone and simply step out of bounds, or a zone will just stop playing its assignment. Also, I hope they make match work again. It’s frustrating when my quarter-flat stands and looks at the QB instead of guarding his assignment. Make the players aware of what is going on, and people should be happy.
Create-A-Team/Different Relocation Teams
More good news — EA is paying attention to the Franchise crowd. This offseason, EA added some new features to franchise mode, such as rollover cap, different incentives for player signings, and more. I think EA did a good job with community requests for Franchise. There is one touch EA could add — custom teams/different relocation teams. This feature has not been in the game since Madden 12, and fans have been asking for it for a while. An example is that you could relocate the Texans and move them to a different city. The relocation cities have essentially been the same since Madden 17. However, think about how fun it could be if you could relocate and build your own team, similar to teambuilder in NCAA, or Relocation in NHL. Imagine you can design your own logos, upload them to the game, make a stadium, and all that fun stuff. I think it would be a good grab for fans who like to be unique/creative. Who says no? It’s in just about every sports game, why not Madden?
I think this will be a fun year for Madden. Something refreshing as opposed to Madden 22, where EA refused to listen to their community, and they lost a lot of players. This is the earliest I stopped playing Madden Ultimate Team, and the game in general. I hope EA can improve what they did in the beta, because this game has a lot of potential.
