The Greatness That Once Was

About 15 years ago getting the latest Madden from the store was all any NFL fan could dream of, besides maybe a Superbowl, young and old. Whether it was getting to play with the new rookies, playing with new players on your team, realistic physics, and the innovative features that made you feel like you were a part of the game. Over the last several years, many long time madden players will all tell you that it's not the same as it was. As of recently the popular game series has had some small wins, but they keep having bigger losses. Madden now is the joke of sports gaming here is how it slipped and what needs to change.

The Downward Spiral

By far the biggest complaint is that every iteration feels like a minor adjustment, rather than a big meaningful upgrade. Every year it feels like the same game because the publishers use the same modes, UI, and CPU/AI behavior without big changes and game bugs remain the same without any fixes. Fans constantly feel like they are paying the full price of a game just to get a glorified roster update with cosmetic changes. Metacritic , a popular gaming review site, for the last 15 years of Madden has mostly negative reviews. Most of the reviews cite a number of bugs, glitches, and performance issues. As well as micro transactions and monetization feeling overwhelming. A fellow blog post by Rafly Gilang for the website The Gamer that was made in 2020 still shows how everything that was wrong with Madden back then continues to happen even now. Yet somehow the publisher of Madden EA Sports still continues to have an exclusive partnership with the NFL to continue to make these games.

Accelerating Decline

The pace at which they make these games is nothing short of impressive, but that also contribute to why they cannot fix foundational issues. If they continue making Madden every year it will fail eventually. The lack of competition doesn't help as well because even when making it every year you can tell they cut corners and are lazy, but if you give them a little competition it might push for some innovation. Instead they only focus on earning your money instead of just focusing on quality over quantity. Over the last year Madden goes on sale so quickly after coming out now and that can be contributed to the years of abuse from EA in their NFL gaming community.

Good Enough..... Why Not Great

Madden isn't a failure by any means, more of a you had so much potential. What I mean by that is yes the game is fun and it makes a lot of money but it could be so much more. Smaller areas they improve in and make fans come back but in the process they have lost so many fans. The direction EA takes Madden is a frustrating one, especially for fans who remember what Madden once was. For the fans that remember what Madden once was its infuriating to know that they settle for good, when it could be great. If EA wants to win the heart of those fans back they need to stop treating Madden like a big pay day and more of a love letter to NFL and football fans across the world. The only way it seems that will happen now is to have some competition for NFL game rights.

4 comments:

Neal G.October 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
I completely agree that Madden has only been on the decline for well over a decade. The last one I actually owned was Madden 13, and I switched over to their mobile game for a few years. EA has absolutely been letting down its fans by refusing to improve its game. They have the same problem with FIFA, which I used to play quite often as a soccer fan. Maybe new competitors in the market could help them return to their roots of making great sports games for the fans, and not for their wallet.
FarajiOctober 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
As someone who's played Madden since Odell been on the cover. This is the truest thing ever. EA's Greed has ruined a genuinely good franchise. They stopped improving the game and solely focused on dollars. sad to see, but that's the state of most sports games at the moment.