Madden 22 took part in the Spotlight Series for EA Play Live, and we've now learned a lot more about the scouting function coming to Franchise Mode this year.
The NFL Draft process has the potential to look better than ever before in Madden 22, and here's everything new we learned about scouting and other updates headed to Franchise Mode.
Scouting will kick off a trio of Franchise Updates
One of the biggest pieces of information revealed during the EA Play Live: Spotlight Series for Madden 22 is that they are currently planning three major updates to Franchise after the title is launched.
Scouting is expected to be part of the first, which still has a non-specific release window of September 2021, and it's the one we learned the most about this time.
Other potential inclusions in that update weren't discussed, but it was mentioned that the pacing used for Madden 21 of dropping three large Franchise Title Updates is likely to still be the case for Madden 22.
We can look back at the release of Madden 21 to get an idea of when things started to get dropped, and last year the first Gridiron Notes about upcoming Franchise Updates hit on September 3, 2020.
Following that, Madden 21 had full Franchise Updates go live on November 10, January 6, and March 3 with accompanying Gridiron Notes delving into what was added or changed each time.
With so much chatter that Madden 22's first will arrive in September, we could see these dates accelerated this time, hopefully with each coming a full two months earlier than they did last year.
Franchise Mode aims to be more user friendly
While the first section of the EA Play Live: Spotlight Series for Madden 22 was a bit light on details, things did finally get down to brass tacks and reveal lots of information about what's coming this year.
One of the first things that was discussed is a way that scouting will hopefully become more approachable, as they've done away with the points based system used in previous years.
No longer will gamers be nudged every single week in Franchise to spend their scouting points immediately or risk losing them, as this time things will work in a much broader way that allows for some autopilot to occur.
The new scouting system will try to leave things open to user preference, which means you should be able to pay as much or little attention to scouting while playing Franchise as you choose.
On top of that, scouting preferences will be set at the very beginning of Franchise in week one of preseason, rather than being delayed until several weeks into the season.
Much of this year's scouting upgrade will also hinge on the way they've reworked and integrated the NFL Draft, including parts of that process like Mock Drafts.
Scouting revamps NFL Draft, Mock Draft, and more in Madden 22
Scouting is key for NFL teams, but it's really all just a tool that leads to the biggest event of the offseason: the NFL Draft.
This year, Madden 22 is aiming to integrate that even more with scouting, with the potential draft board actually representing what a media-produced Mock Draft looks like in today's world.
That will even bring in a new layer of strategy, as the way you place your scouts in Franchise will have a direct impact on Mock Drafts and the way media reacts to certain players.
Should you choose to send your most important scout to a particular player who isn't high in the Mock Draft, media will take notice and other teams will start to pay closer attention to that player.
If you want to avoid that attention, you can choose to do a private workout or send a lower level scout, but it will be at the risk of receiving less detailed information about that prospect.
The full reveal
Sitting comfortably?
Here's the full Madden 22 feature spotlight on Scouting.