Madden 21: First Franchise mode update slated for mid-November

The first of three planned updates for Madden 21’s franchise mode will focus on four big features.

EA is making good on their promise to improve franchise mode in Madden 21. In the latest Gridiron Notes, the developer revealed there will be three post-launch updates focused on franchise, the first of which is being targeted for a mid-November release.

As previously detailed, the updates will address community requests for the long-ignored franchise mode, including things like improved player progression and regression, better AI personnel management and trade logic, authentic playoff brackets, and more. The first update will focus on four key features: X-Factor/Superstar Ability Customization, player card career stats UI, dev trait regression tuning, and the playoff bracket.

"X-Factor/Superstar Ability Customization: This highly requested feature by the community allows commissioners to assign X-Factors to any player via the edit player feature. Once a player has met the criteria to unlock an X-Factor ability, commissioners will be able to edit their player’s Superstar abilities and Superstar X-Factor ability by selecting from those available within his position group. Users will have control over this functionality in both offline and online Franchises."

X-Factor/Superstar abilities are relatively new in the Madden franchise. They were introduced in Madden 20 as a way to help set the league’s most elite players apart from the rest. But only a handful of select players possess these special abilities. Giving commissioners the ability to assign these abilities to any player in the game not only allows a more creative aspect for franchise but can also help leagues stay more up-to-date with what’s going on in the real world. For instance, if a player is having a really good year, commissioners will now be able to edit him to reflect his elite performance.

The Player Card Career Stats User Interface is also getting a much-needed update. The goal is to provide more context for the stats, broken down by week, opponent and outcome. The UI will also show what team the player was on for every year of their career. Franchise players love their stats — it’s part of the fun of playing multi-year seasons. This has been long overdue.