Madden 23 Franchise Mode will be a big test for some fans as they gauge whether it's time to jump back into the long running series.
While not every fan favorite feature is returning, one from Madden 15 has found its way into Madden 23 Franchise Mode.
Madden 23 Franchise Mode beta confirms leak about Madden 15 feature
When new announcements started to roll in about Madden 23, there was an understandable hyper focus on what exactly they were bringing to Franchise.
Over the last several years, particularly since the #FixMaddenFranchise movement, there have been fans pushing hard for EA Sports to improve the game mode.
Scouting was the biggest area of improvement in Madden 22, but even that product with post-launch updates left plenty to be desired.
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The initial Gridiron Notes about Madden 23 described "The Drama of NFL Free Agency" leading the way along with further refinement towards Trade Logic AI, scouting, staff management, weekly strategy, and more.
They briefly mentioned "new athlete motivations like team location and salary demands factoring into contract negotiations," and this was reinforced by a report from Madden23Leaks on Twitter.
The account pointed out that the specific feature returning are the bid interest meters shown in Madden 15 during contract negotiations.
We got to try Madden 23 Franchise Mode during the closed beta, and we can confirm the new athlete motivations feature does look a lot like this Madden 15 feature.
Madden 23 athlete motivations new feature revealed by closed beta
The news that a feature from Madden 15 alone could be exciting for longtime fans, and they've definitely done some refinement as well.
While the bid interest meters in Madden 15 were more general, things felt very catered towards each player when we were in the Madden 23 beta.
Negotiations to sign new talent or re-sign current players included a screen highlight three key motivations.
There may be more, but these are just a few we confirmed were in the Madden 23 beta and should be in Franchise Mode at launch:
- Super Bowl Chase
- Big Market
- Historic Championships
- Top The Depth Chart
- Head Coach Historic Record
- Mentor at Position
- Highest Offer
- Close To Home
- Scheme Fit
- Team Has Franchise QB
- No Income Tax
- Warm Weather State
Each of these varies player to player and team to team, and this could make the challenge of managing your club in Franchise Mode better than it has been in years.
We're hoping to get a proper deep dive into Franchise Mode in the coming weeks as the Madden 23 release date approaches.