Will Madden 23 End The Streak of Bad Games?

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The Madden football video game franchise saw a significant drop in overall quality for the last three to six years. There was plenty of talk, in general, that gamers preferred that the NFL grant a licensing request to 2K Sports, the makers of NBA 2k and at one point l, NFL 2k (Sega Dreamcast and Playstation 2). The most often discussed problem was a lack of competition for Electronic Arts (EA) Sports.

Part of the issue seemed to be the Frostbite Engine, mostly used for other types of video games. This hasn’t been great for sports games but there is a chance that perception can son change.

It’s doubtful that anyone expected Madden 23 to be a high-quality video game. It’s just the only NFL product anyone can buy. Most gamers would admit that they expected another significant drop in quality.

After playing a few games and listening to others on Twitch, one thing became evident right away. Madden 23 is completely different than its predecessors. Instead of the same, usual low-quality product that gamers expected yet again, they were treated to a much higher quality product that could save the Madden franchise from its impending doom.

Madden 22 and some of the previous editions, suffered from poor route running, lack of solid defense, glitches like passes bouncing off of helmets only to be intercepted, and major server issues that lead to disconnected games on Madden Ultimate Team (MUT).

The ball bouncing off the helmet glitch didn’t completely disappear. However, the game overall seems much smoother and has a polished overall look to it that we haven’t seen for roughly three to six years. EA prioritized micro transactions like paying for Ultimate Team packs with a credit card over a high-quality product that gamers enjoyed.

To fully understand just how much better Madden 23 is, you have to play it to experience it for yourself. With Twitch users giving it a seven or eight out of ten as opposed to a dismal rating of five or six, that seems to indicate that EA put more effort into making a quality game that gamers love. Also, the servers seem to be better this year although they sometimes lag, in terms of updating reward information. There were also some desynchronizations that resulted in games not counting. In fact, I “rage quit” one of my games out of frustration and that didn’t even count for some odd reason. Those issues aren’t happening often though so it’s safe to say EA actually upgraded their servers.

The defensive players are also better this year and they perform better. The lack of good defense was painfully obvious in Madden 22 so EA listened to gamers and did something to correct that.

Overall, Madden 23 is an enjoyable experience and puts the franchise back in the driver’s seat. EA may not have to worry if the NFL awards 2k and San Diego Studios (formerly 989 Sports) with licenses. EA would be able to compete against both companies now should that in fact happen.