Posted in: Electronic Arts, Games, Madden NFL, NFL, Video Games | Tagged: Madden NFL 26

Madden NFL 26 Discusses Franchises & Authenticity

EA Sports dropped a coupole of new blogs this past week for Madden NFL 26, discussing franchsies as well as NFL authenticity

EA Sports has released a new pair of Gridiron Notes for Madden NFL 26, talking more about two specific areas as they take a deep dive into both. The first one is authenticity, as they discuss all of the things they have done to make it feel like you are genuinely at an NFL game or having the NFL experience as a player. Meanwhile, the other focuses on franchises, as they delve more into the makeup of a team from being the coach to deciding how you'll run the team on and off the field. We have snippets from both below as you can get more info in their respective blog links. Madden NFL 26 will be released on August 14.

Madden NFL 26 – Authenticity

Field Art

So, what does this coordination with NFL teams actually mean? How will it impact your game of Madden? For starters, you'll get real world recreations of the different field art that appears when alternate uniforms are worn at home. If the Buccaneers are rocking the creamsicles at home, the field art at Raymond James will be, too. The differences on the field can be seen in the midfield logo, end zones, edge walls, and typography.

You'll see whiteouts in Cincinnati and Minnesota, as well as blackouts for the Eagles, Jets, Panthers, and Ravens. Equipping classic uniforms will result in retro field art being shown in Atlanta, Denver, Miami, New England, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Tampa Bay. And then there's the Texans! They've got annual events with specific looks to celebrate Battle Red Day, Reppin' H Town, and their White Out. There are plenty of other combinations of alternate uniforms and field art to be discovered in Madden NFL 26 and we're excited to hear about your favorites!

Mascots

For the reintroduction of mascots to Madden, we committed to delivering the best possible recreations. This started with full scans. We scanned mascots at events such as the Pro Bowl. Some teams even sent us their only full costume so that we could scan it at Madden's Orlando headquarters! You'll see mascots throughout a matchup in pregame runouts, during gameplay on the sidelines, and reacting between plays.

Stadium Sounds

Close your eyes, and put yourself in your favorite team's stadium. It's kickoff on opening day. What do you hear? Sound is a crucial element to sports immersion. Our collaboration with NFL teams gives us access to the specific sound effects used at home games! For example, Minnesota has two types of Gjallarhorn sounds for specific game events. When the Vikings get a 1st down, they use a high-pitched version of the horn sound. When they're on defense for a third down, you'll hear the lower-pitched and more menacing version.

Franchises

Coach Creation

In order to make sure your coach feels like you, they need to look the part. Custom coaches got a massive overhaul, with 200 new heads to choose from when creating your coach. There's also a ton of new gear exclusively for custom coaches. With more than 50 new shirts, 15 pants and 40 shoes, you can make more than 30,000 combinations to wear on the sidelines. From a shirt & tie and slacks to a sleeveless shirt and shorts, you can bring your own style to the field every week– and change it up each game if you want.

Choose Your Archetype

Every coach in Madden NFL 26 will fall under one of three distinct archetypes: Offensive Guru, Defensive Genius or Development Wizard. As a created coach, choosing your archetype will be the first decision you make and will impact how you evolve and develop as a coach. This choice will dictate not only the abilities you start with, but also the abilities you will unlock as you progress in your career. As an Offensive Guru, the entire unlock path will consist of offensive-minded abilities and the same goes for the Defensive Genius where its unlock path will be centered around defensive-minded abilities. As a Development Wizard, the unlock path will primarily be a mix of off the field abilities and gameplay abilities. All existing coaches will also fall under one of these three archetypes and the abilities they possess will be tailored to match their real-life counterparts.

When it comes to coach progression, each coach now has a level from 1 to 50. If you create a coach, you'll begin at level 1. As your career advances and you reach higher levels, you'll unlock new abilities and ability slots (we'll talk more about those later). To level up, you'll need to earn Coach XP. There are a few ways to earn it, but the main method is through completing goals. In addition to Season and Career Milestone goals, we've added in-game goals. These let you and your coordinators earn XP weekly based on what happens during your games. After each week, you'll see a summary of your completed goals, how much XP you earned, and how close you are to your next level. If you level up, you'll also get a special tab that shows off any new unlocks you've earned.

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