Madden 21 gameplay has the chance to raise the bar, especially with next-gen titles expected to be available on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
The current edition of Madden 20 is seen as an improvement to the franchise but with Raidel 'Joke' Brito winning the Madden Bowl Championship without throwing a pass, it calls into question whether gameplay changes are needed.
Madden Bowl Championship
Joke is considered one of the best professional Madden players around, but he had never won a Madden Bowl. Consistently finishing in the final four, one major change seems to have changed his fortunes.
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In the salary cap based competition, he used a Punter at QB and thus saved himself cap to use elsewhere whilst only ever running the ball.
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Whilst it's great for Joke to finally have a title to cement his legacy, this has really highlighted the bias towards the run game in the current Madden engine.
Playcall limits needed in Madden 21
Obviously we do want to see a more balanced meta gameplay between running and passing. Each year, the balance flip-flops a little as EA address the previous concerns. Its a difficult juggling act.
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A good addition to this would be playcall limits and cooldowns. This was introduced at various Ultimate Team House Rules events and had a positive impact on generating varied play.
Whilst not focused specifically on running or passing, it does mean players can't use the same plays repeatedly and forces them to learn a playbook which creates a simulation style of play.
Madden 21 Release date?
EA Sports gave us a teaser at the Inside Xbox event, but as Patrick Mahomes talked through the clip it was more of a nostalgia trip than showing Madden 21 footage.
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That said, EA confirmed in a financial report that Madden 21 is expected to release in Q2. So this would give them the target of the standard mid-August release.
Madden 21 at EA Play
EA Play usually takes place around E3 in the summer and is EA’s chance to show off their upcoming titles for gamers around the world.
This years will be virtual for obvious reasons and should give us more information on Madden 21.
EA Play will start at 4pm PT on Thursday 11 June.
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