Has the Madden 21 launch dampened your expectations for Next-Gen?

[Hassan Darkside]

The lead up to the Madden 21 current-gen launch was met with quite a bit of criticism, with #FixMaddenFranchise trending and forcing EA Execs to do damage control. The launch itself has fared far worse, with so much buyer backlash that news outlets from SI to NYPost to Fox News have covered the blowback to the bug-ridden game.

A couple of folks, even former EA Devs have cited COVID-19 as part of the reason the game launched with so many issues.

We know very little about next-gen sports titles, however, 2k has dropped bits of information noting that NBA 2k is rebuilt from the ground up and the gameplay is much different than current-gen but it does retain new features that were added to the current-gen version. We know nothing about Madden so this is mainly speculation.

Given how tumultuous the current-gen launch has been and EA Sports's track record with next-gen launch titles, has that caused you to lower your expectations for the next-gen product?

[Dblock1111]

My expectations for next gen 21 are already at the bare minimum of slightly better visuals and better load times in offline modes.

I still fear they'll find a way to disappoint me somehow.

[patsfan1993]

The launch didn't dampen my expectations for next gen, they were already dampened.Once they basically confirmed the game is just going to be a port any expectations I had for next gen were wiped out.

For a company to constantly tell everyone how difficult and patched together the old code is to not take the opportunity to rebuild the game just sucked out my enthusiasm. This was the opportunity to tear the house down and refurbish the outdated setup and they passed to just port the same broken code over.

So basically I have no enthusiasm for next gen madden. Madden will be madden and that's all it will ever be, I guess.

[stinkubus]

No company is going to rebuild from scratch unless they believe they must to stay relevant. It would be impossible to justify the expense to investors otherwise, and all the top management would find themselves summarily unemployed if the only reason they could provide was "a new console generation seemed like the right time".

Since I'm already anticipating the "what about 2k" response I can only say that any guess as to why they've chosen to rebuild would be as good as mine. If you actually care seek out the relevant investor guidance as I imagine the matter would need to be discussed in some detail with their shareholders.

[kennylc321]

All along I've said that I do not have any expectations for either console.

I know that the graphics will be stunning. EA will definitely let us know how you can see the real-time sweat coming off the players' faces and see the QB's mouth move as he calls the play. The fans in the stands will look life like and the blades of grass will sway with the wind.

But other than that, I don't expect anything. I've said this a million times. EA has too many game modes (MUT, CFM, Yardstick or whatever they call it, and face of the franchise) and not enough resources to provide adequate support. They basically had to make a game for the PS4 and the PS 5 in one development year. On top of that, they have to keep making patches for the current gen. On top of THAT, I'm sure COVID messed up that timeline. On top of THAT we hear every time there is a new console that they have to 'get used to the technology'

EA could have helped themselves by maybe shelving The Yard for another year. Again, too many modes and not enough resources.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

It's got me pretty psyched for next gen. This game is a ton of fun as is so a free upgrade to next gen is going to be awesome. Looking forward to it.

[YabaDaba]

For many reasons, and I’m not even talking about Madden here, I’m just not pumped up for next-gen. Between a lackluster slate of launch exclusives on both sides, what is sure to be a $500 launch price for both consoles in the middle of a questionable economy, diminishing returns on the graphical improvements, and the increasing affordability of decent PC gaming hardware, I just don’t think the new consoles will launch that well.

As it pertains to Madden, we all know how much EA has oversold previous next-gen debuts to get excited for whatever they have planned for this year.

As for 2K, there’s much more reason for optimism that they will launch a fully-fledged next gen title. We saw that with 2k14, which was easily the best looking launch title for the XBone-PS4, with a fully developed new game mode (MyGM) they personally blew past all my expectations. I have no doubt the 2K next-gen launch this year will be very impressive, and blow Madden out of the water. Again.

[JoshC1977]

Why would they be dampened by the launch? Madden 21 is easily the best playing game of the series (and I LOVED M20). The dev team is doing a great job in focusing on game-balancing (which is key) and they are adding a wealth of different modes/options (and while I do not partake in those modes, they are key to growing the community).

I'm not expecting a lot of improvement (other than possibly graphically) between PS4 M21 and PS5 M21; but this game has come a long ways since the dark days of the PS2/PS3 eras and I think that bodes well moving forward.