Details on second big Franchise Mode update for Madden NFL 21

The second of three planned updates to enhance the long-neglected Franchise Mode through Madden NFL 21 is scheduled to go out tomorrow. The first, which released in November, was significant in that it was the start of what was promised to materialize over the coming months but was far from being satisfying to those eager for improvements. This update though offers much more substance in the form of commissioner controls and draft logic improvements.

The final patch is planned for February and will deliver improvements to trade logic and the addition of the tracking of each league’s history.

CPU QB Draft Logic Improvements

When teams draft a first round quarterback in real life, it’s a sign of commitment from a team to a player saying “we think you can be, or now are, the face of our organization.”

As a part of our next update, we have added new logic checks that CPU teams will use to guide whether they should even be interested in drafting a QB when they’re on the clock in Round 1. Now, teams will evaluate their roster and previous draft picks of the last two years to keep teams from replacing players too soon..

DEV NOTE: This feature came directly from community feedback around situations where rookie QBs ultimately got replaced after their first season due to their OVR being lower than an incoming prospect. Embracing the authenticity of teambuilding and player development, teams now consider their incumbent starters as a piece of their future to give runway for those players to reach their full potential. Now, teams will consider previous investments to influence their future selections.

When a CPU team is on the clock, they will now deprioritize drafting a first round QB if:
-Their current starting QB was a 1st round pick in the last two Drafts
-Their current starting QB was a 2nd/3rd round pick in the last two Drafts
-And has a Normal Dev and 72+ OVR
-And has Star or higher Dev trait
-Their current starting QB is a 94+ OVR
-Their current starting QB is 87+ OVR and 32+ years old
-Their current starting QB is 74+ OVR and < 29 years old
-Their current backup QB is a Star or higher Dev Trait and < 28 years old
-If team’s current starting QB is over 35 they will consider drafting replacement

As always, whether the team actually does draft a QB is dependent on many factors, and like real life, there can still be times where a team decides a player is just too good to pass up depending on the situation. The Draft is full of surprises!

Commissioner Controls: Undo FA Signings – Offseason Only

Commissioners are able to undo FA signings in the offseason directly through the transaction log. Simply click on a signing and revert it to send the player back into the free agent pool.

Commissioner Controls: Team Override Settings

Giving commissioners of leagues the ability to turn on/off or allow users to keep individual settings for Heat Seeker tackling, Ball Hawk, and Switch assist – one of our top requested commissioner requests, this creates a way to level the playing field regarding assist features.

Commissioner Draft Tools

Commissioners will now be able to assign autopilot during the draft, along with pause/resume functionality. This way advancing to the next user pick will skip any player who is on autopilot. This has been a top community request for a number of years now.

Commissioner House Rules: Play Cool-Down and Repeat Play Limits

After these settings made their debut last year in MUT/KO, House Rules became one of the most requested features for franchise players and we are incredibly excited to bring them to you. Take control as a Commissioner and dictate how many times a play can be called in a game, and how long a player must wait before calling the same play again.

Commissioner Setting – X-Factor Customization Restrictions

Commissioners will be able to determine who is able to edit abilities on players through the X-Factor Customization tools we enabled in our previous continuous development release. The settings are Commissioner only, Any User, or None.