Highly anticipated Franchise update arrives for Madden NFL 22

Whether one chooses to look at it as a feature arriving late or one that would otherwise have been held until next year if not for consumer pressure, the update bringing in a big scouting revamp for Franchise Mode is out today for Madden NFL 22.

In addition the patch makes considerable changes to gameplay, adds a new mode to The Yard, and inserts over 20 new player likenesses to Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

Franchise – Scouting

With a full scouting department at your disposal, deploy your four area scouts and your national scout to scour the map for the best talent in the country. Assign area scouts to one of four different regions, and adjust assignments from the first week of the preseason until the first week of the regular season. Gather prospects from all regions of the map using your national scout. Choose general scouting, position-focused, super-focused, or private workouts to evaluate prospects.

Garner the most information about prospects when you conduct private workouts. Collect information like player traits, athletic abilities, and skills all of which are relative to the rest of that seasons’ prospect pool. Over the course of the season, there will be five mock drafts. Mock drafts showcase which teams are interested in which prospects, based on respective team needs and existing draft position. Mocks will be dynamic over the course of a season as teams perform, sign players, and loose players in free agency.

Prospects will change positions on the draft board throughout the season based on notable storylines reported on by the media. Track a player’s big board movement by seeing their Rank Change during the season.

Franchise – Other

♦Tuned the logic for the MVP award via boosting weight of sacks, greater emphasis on touchdowns, and more significant penalty for turnovers
♦Fix to some teams missing their draft picks on the active/preseason roster
♦Addressed an issue with Weekly Strategy fatigue where CPU/auto manage rep teams get too fatigued by the end of the season
♦Addressed an issue where running backs had very high yards-per-reception in simulation
♦Fixed an issue where the right tackle position did not appear in the trade menus.

Gameplay – Pass Coverage

♦Hook Zones: Fixed an issue causing the Mid-Read defender in Tampa 2 to drift the wrong direction vs. trips, leaving the TE open off the snap. This fix makes sure the Mid Read is opening with that vertical by #3 and carrying it better vertically downfield
♦Curl-Flat Zones: Improved Curl Flat Zone logic so they would prioritize out breaking routes instead of shading under verticals. Also improved some logic so Curl Flats and Quarters Flats won’t chuck out breaking routes that were causing them to give up any leverage they had to cover the sideline.
♦Flat Zones: Improved Cloud Flat Zone logic to better carry vertical routes to protect the fade and improve their facing direction immediately following the chuck
♦Fixed an issue so Cover 2 Sink soft-squat defenders could better shade receivers in the flat
♦Fixed an issue preventing Hard-Flat defenders from covering Inside Receivers and Tight Ends in Bunch and Close formations running Flat Routes and the flat portion of wheel routes
♦Improved Man Defender motion logic so man defenders will properly follow and align when their receiver motions across the formation when the AI team is using the CB Matchups
♦Fixed an issue causing man-coverage assignments to incorrectly swap when the offense motioned a receiver across the formation.

Gameplay – QB Contain

♦Tuning to QB Contain behavior so contain defenders will get more depth off the snap
♦Tuning to open up disengage angles to allow contain defenders to anticipate better getting off blocks to more quickly react to QB’s dropping back too far behind the line of scrimmage

Gameplay – Tackling

♦Fixed a rare issue preventing a QB slide from being ruled down
♦Fixed a rare issue that could allow a defender to warp off the ground from a diving tackle into a standing wrap tackle

Gameplay – General

♦Fixed a blocking issue preventing the blocking RB from picking up an edge rusher vs. Nickel 3-3-5 Wide flipped
♦Addressed an issue where QBs would be able to scramble deep in the offensive backfield at full speed until they found an angle to get around Pass Rushers. DEV NOTE: QBs will start to fatigue faster and slow down when trying to scramble 15+ yards behind the line of scrimmage. This reflects the realistic amount of effort and energy loss QB’s suffer in real life when scrambling so deep in the offensive backfield.
♦Fixed an issue causing players sometimes to start the second half of the game extremely fatigued
♦Fixed an issue causing the user-controlled player to get stuck running on touchbacks during kickoffs
♦Fixed an issue causing sideline characters sometimes to warp or pop randomly
♦Fixed issues around Deadeye abilities triggering in the wrong situation. Inside Deadeye was not only triggering on passes to targets inside the numbers but targets outside the numbers
♦Fixed a rare issue that could result in an Offensive Pass Interference penalty to be called after a defender would hit-stick a receiver while running his route
♦Tuning to inaccurate passes to make passes more inaccurate when the QB has scrambled to 15 yards or more behind the line of scrimmage
♦Fixed a rare issue that could result in the referee saying a call had been reversed via a challenge even though the play result had not been reversed

Gameplay – Dynamic Gameday

♦Fixed an issue with the Colts Home Field Advantage failing to show the Hat-Count visual that could be used as pass/run play-tell
♦Tuning to the ‘Adrenaline’ M-Factor so instead of infinite stamina, it now reduces the rate of stamina drain.
♦Fixed an issue causing a logo to appear over players heads instead of a question mark for specific M-Factors
♦Fixed an issue sometimes causing the ‘Shook’ play-art to remain on the field after the snap

Gameplay – Play Art

♦Fixed an issue causing the WR Icons to stay visible after making a defensive adjustment
♦Fixed an issue preventing the art from updating to the correct route after making a hot-route on the RB and then sending him in motion to the slot
♦Fixed an issue preventing art from updating on Speed Option plays after flipping the play
♦Fixed an issue causing the art to sometimes disappear on defense when hot-routing a defender to blitz while inside the tackle box
♦Added scaling to Play-Art inside of The Yard when backed up into either end zone

Gameplay – New Abilities

♦Run-Off Elite – Players with this ability will distract defenders for longer with their runoffs/ DEV NOTE: Receiver Run-offs are when the receiver fakes as if he is running a pass route downfield. This is done to pull the defenders away from the LOS and give the ball carrier more room if he gets to the edge. Some Receivers are masters at pulling this off and making the defender feel like it is a real route he is running, that is what this Ability emulates.
♦On The Ball – Players with this ability are much less likely to be fooled by WR runoffs.
♦Precision Kicker – Kickers with this ability can see the entirety of the kicking arc
♦Crusher – Defenders with this ability will cause heavy fatigue penalties when tackling a ball carrier with a hit-stick tackle.
♦Demoralizer – Defenders with this ability will clear a ballcarrier’s progress towards entering the zone with a hit-stick tackle.
♦Mind Reader (X-Factor) – When activated, defenders can see offensive play art via coach cam. DEV NOTE: This powerful X-Factor Ability can only activate once the defensive player possessing the Ability gets in the zone by landing three successful Hit Sticks on Simulation or Arcade or five successful Hit Sticks on Competitive. You will be able to view your opponent’s play art when you bring up Coach Cam. To knock the player out of the zone, you will need to gain 30 yards on offense. This X-Factor will not be immediately available in Madden Ultimate Team, but it will be available in Franchise.

The Yard

The Yard: Ranked has been added. The Yard: Ranked will allow you to earn Gear, Cred, and Madden Ultimate Team packs all year long. Earning Tier Points will allow you to place on the leaderboard. You can earn extra Tier Points each game by completing in-game goals known as “Props”. Rank up, Prestige, and show the world who’s the best in The Yard!

NFL Authenticity Updates

♦99 Club Cleats and new Jordan 5 low and mid cleats added
♦Panthers and Saints Stadium renovations added
♦Browns 1960’s helmet updated
♦Colts 1960’s jersey updated
♦Multiple mouthpiece placement issues fixed
♦Some heads appearing grey on Gen 4 fixed
♦Lighting issues around shadows are fixed across multiple stadiums.
♦New throwback uniforms added for 49ers, 1980’s Away, 1994 Away, 1998 Home/Away
♦New Likeness added for the following players: Brandon Aiyuk, Ja’Marr Chase, Caleb Farley, C.J. Henderson, Darnay Holmes, Jaycee Horn, Javon Kinlaw, Trey Lance, John Johnson III, Dalton Schultz, Gerald Everett, Xavier McKinney, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Kenneth Murray Jr, Michael Pittman Jr, Patrick Queen, Trey Sermon, Laviska Shenault Jr, DeVonta Smith, Patrick Surtain II, Kadarius Toney, Jaylen Waddle, Antoine Winfield, Rock Ya-Sin