Games Madden 23 Franchise Mode: This Is Real Progress Brian Mazique Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover sports video games. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jul 15, 2022, 06:46pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Justin Herbert Credit: EA After several frustrating years for franchise mode fans in the Madden community, EA is finally showing significant, tangible and promising improvements to the mode. On Friday, EA released their deep dive into what’s new in franchise mode for the upcoming Madden 23, and while every box isn’t checked, there is a lot to like. Free Agency Additions The new free agency system looks set to greatly enhance the franchise mode experience. There is an obvious attempt to create the storylines and alternate universe that free agency in sports–more specifically the NFL–delivers. Per EA: “During the first stage of free agency, each team will only be able to offer up to 5 players a contract during each Eval Period. This will help ensure that a few teams can’t just come in and sign all the top free agents right away. ” MORE FOR YOU ‘Demon Slayer’ Season 2 Finally Has An Actual 2021 Release Date Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Not A Sure Thing, Says Director ‘Genshin Impact’ Still Refuses To Increase Anniversary Rewards, Despite Fan Outcry The act of gamifying this concept is where the challenge comes in for developers. It sounds like a strong design, but we won’t know for sure until we get a chance to play around with it once the retail version is live. EA added more info along these lines. “In the first stage of free agency, you will need to be calculated on whom you make offers to as you won’t be able to go after everybody you want. In Stage two of free agency, you can offer up to 10 players in each Eval period and then in Stage 3, you can make an unlimited amount of offers to the remaining Free Agents. ” Why does the user have less options during the early stages of free agency? Theoretically, it makes sense considering that’s usually when teams are more aggressively pursuing the most desirable free agents. EA explains: “While this is more limiting in early stages, it is compensated for by the second feature, Evaluations. Within every week of Free Agency, 3 Eval Offers can be made; when triggered all offers are run allowing players to accept/decline contracts or not make a final decision without the need for the week to be advanced. This will give each team more opportunity to go back and forth with a player during negotiations and/or possibly allow you to change direction if you get feedback that the player is not interested in signing with you. ” What decides whether a player will consider your team? This where Madden 23’s franchise mode may have made their biggest leap. They have implemented “player motivations. ” The players and teams appear to have their own separate wants and needs, which ideally would supply the user with that give and take that makes free agency and recruitment in sports video games fun. Here is a look at the player motivations, per EA: Super Bowl Chase Evaluated throughout the season, the teams in position to contend for the Super Bowl will be the prime destination for these players. Ex. Von Miller, Buffalo Bills. Historic Championships A priority toward Franchises with a winning culture that have shown their ability to bring home the Lombardi trophy over time. Head Coach Historic Record Top tier coaches that have proven their contribution to winning games will better recruit players to come on board. Scheme Fit Players will look to match the team’s offensive or defensive Scheme to best showcase their talent on the field. Top the Depth Chart These players are looking to be starters at their position, plain and simple. Team Has Franchise QB Taking the field with an elite Quarterback is a dream to many. If your QB has the “Franchise QB” Player Tag, they’ll be helping you bring these players into the mix. Ex. Russell Gage, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mentor at Position Developing players can look to find their mentor to help them break through to the next level. They want to see a player on your team at their position with the “Mentor” Player Tag. Close to Home Does your city bring a player close to his family? The distance between your stadium and a player’s Home state can be a big draw. Ex. Jarvis Landry, New Orleans Saints. Big Market Opportunities off the field can be as appealing as those on. Big Market players are looking to showcase themselves in the largest cities in the world. Tax Free State Paydays aren’t always the same when taxes are involved. Teams in states with no income tax provide an extra incentive for some. Warm Weather State Sun and fun. States that stay warm throughout the winter will be welcoming to these players. Highest Offer Sometimes it is all about the money. Players will think less of how you fit their interests and are simply looking for the biggest deal. Every player begins with 3 motivations, but these are dynamic and will change over the course of a player’s career. In addition to Player Motivations we have Player Tags. If this works well, it will help to all but eliminate the annoying tendencies we’ve suffered through in past Madden franchise modes. Player Tags should help to stop teams from drafting quarterbacks every year despite the fact that they already have a young, potential franchise player at the position. Tags serve as a placeholder that can direct the game’s algorithm into the type of players it should be drafting, trading for and looking to sign in free agency. Here are the Player Tags: Award Winner Players who have won yearly awards will draw more interest during Free Agency, creating heated competition to land the biggest available names. Franchise QB The top QBs and those poised to take the league by storm will hold a prized position with their team. Not only will they appeal to certain Motivations, teams will not look to replace them via Free Agency or the Draft. Bridge QB Journeyman Quarterbacks filling the most important role for a team. These players will keep the seat warm as the team looks to Draft the next heir to the throne. QB of the Future Recently drafted and ready to take the reins. These Quarterbacks will be given starting roles as they get close in OVR to the current starter. Day 1 Starter Elite players ready to make a difference on the field the moment they are drafted. They will be given starter priority and will secure their position, causing the team to look elsewhere in future Drafts. Future Starter These developing players have high ceilings, but may not be ready to play right away. While they wait for their turn to start, they will gain extra XP during Weekly Training. Bridge Player Filling in the gaps across the roster, these players will either allow for split time with up and comers or signal the need for the team to upgrade this position in the Draft. Mentor Veteran leadership cannot be understated. Weekly Training XP boosts will be given to all players that share a position with a Mentor. Ex. Bobby Wagner, Los Angeles Rams. Trade Target Whether a young player without a realistic shot at a starting spot or a veteran without a needed hole to fill, these players will be placed on the team’s Trade Block in search of a better fit. This could also be a game-changer. Scouting Has Seen Some Major Enhancements as Well The other important piece of the offseason overhaul lies in the changes made to scouting. You’ll be able to scout more positions with each level of the scouting period. According to EA, here are the positional groupings. I’m not sure where quarterbacks fall, but I’m sure there is a space for the most important players on the field. RB : Running Backs (Halfbacks and Fullbacks) OT : Offensive Tackles (Left Tackles and Right Tackles) IOL : Interior Offensive Linemen (Left Guards, Centers and Right Guards) DE : Defensive Ends (Left Ends and Right Ends) OLB : Outside Linebackers (Left Outside Linebackers and Right Outside Linebackers) S : Safeties (Free Safeties and Strong Safeties) The attribute reveal process is being designed to show more pertinent information more often. The reveals were too random and potentially unimportant in the past versions. The other solid addition to scouting and the draft is the improvement of draft class variations. Take a look at some of the player profiles that will be offered in draft classes. Generational Prospects Generationals are just as they sound. These templates are based on once in a generation prospects that take the league by storm. These players will come into the league rated incredibly high by prospect standards and will also come with a guaranteed X-Factor DEV trait. With that being said, these players will have the lowest chance of generating out of all of our templates, so they will be hard to find but well worth the wait. 99 Club Prospects No, these will not be 99 overall players. 99 Club Prospects are players that will bring an elite skill to the NFL. We wanted these players to be fun but also reasonably realistic. For that reason, you won’t see any players coming into the league with a 99 rated pass accuracy or 99 awareness. You may however see a QB with 99 Throw Power, a receiver with 99 Spectacular Catch, or a safety with 99 Hit Power. However, that doesn’t automatically mean these will be elite players, just that they excel at a particular skill. High Variance Prospects HIgh Variance prospects are true boom or bust prospects. These prospects have wider than typical ranges on their intangible attributes increasing the volatility of their OVR. This thought process also extends to their DEV trait where we’ve given these players essentially a 50/50 chance of being either Normal or Superstar with a very small chance at Star or Superstar X-Factor. Specialist Prospects Specialist Prospects are players that are a bit outside the box and break the mold of our typical archetype prospects and are either unique to their position or specialize in a certain area. These types of prospects include quarterbacks who excel at play action, edge and interior rushers that lack size as well as linebackers that excel as a run stopper or in pass coverage but offer very little in the alternative. What We’re Still Missing I had conversations with Connor Dougan and Clint Oldenburg of the Madden development team to confirm a few things not addressed in the initial franchise mode reveal. In Madden 23, the NFL Draft still won’t have the sort of enhanced presentation many feel is fitting arguably the most exciting day of the football season. Also, we still can’t create teams and realign divisions the way you can in NBA 2K’s MyNBA. We’re still missing the inclusion of legends that are in Ultimate Team in franchise mode. This is something available in NBA 2K and MLB The Show’s franchise modes. Many fans such as Madden content creator Eric Rayweather are looking for a differentiation between the biggest games on the schedule and the postseason. Rayweather hits on a number of desirable, but still missing features for the franchise mode. Mini Camp Drills? Yes, absolutely. Create-A-Team? Yep. Even with those limitations, it’s hard not to recognize the real progress made with the fan-favorite mode. While this is solid growth, franchise mode fans would likely love to see EA finish the run with more post-release improvements and perhaps the final steps taken for Madden 24. Follow me on Twitter . Check out my website . Brian Mazique Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.