The Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest has completed as the full retail release is due in just a few weeks. The developers wanted to address some concerns that the community experienced during this. This was a beta and not the final version of the game, so some aspects were missing or planned to be tweaked prior to release. One complaint from the community was in the form of the game crashing. The developers addressed the issue by the second week and state that this will not be an issue once the game launches.

As for gameplay, some players stated the movement was either too slow or not accurate while others said it was perfect and not to change it. The developers think a main part of this is players jumping from the previous generation of the game to the current generation. Next-gen player movement takes into account acceleration and change-of-direction, but the speed rating comes into play for top speed of the player. There are also a lot of players with an acceleration range of 80-84 at various positions with some achieving their top speed quicker.

Lastly, other feedback came in the form of catching the ball on both sides. Whether a defender wasn't aggressive enough or the catch mechanics weren't responsive, the development team stated a good bit of work was done to the catch mechanics, but this came after the playtest version. Holding the catch button on defense will also pose a bigger risk. The range for swatting the ball has increased, but to counter that, the ability to make an interception will be more difficult. A full list of bugs that were reported are listed below and these will be addressed by launch. There is also Franchise Mode feedback that can be viewed on the Gridiron Notes here.

Reported Bugs/Suggestions from Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest

The following bugs have been fixed for launch:

●Receivers are dropping the ball really late after the catch

●Dive Tackles are too powerful

●Dive Tackles sometimes would warp a player off the ground to make the tackle (note: there is ongoing work in the same space for diving catches in upcoming updates)

●Lower-rated QBs play too well on All-Madden

●Momentum Meter fills up too fast

●Competitive Modes Momentum Formula not ready for launch

DEV NOTE:

We will not launch with this unique formula for Online Ranked Head-to-Head or Ultimate Team Head-to-Head. We have a formula specific for competitive games that’s currently being tested, and we also want player feedback from the base formula after launch so we can make further adjustments to get it completely dialed in when we deliver it in a title update.

●Situational Pursuit tuning

●Edge Rush is too powerful

DEV NOTE:

We have made an effort to make the pass rush heavier across all modes to get more realistic time in pocket and

have the pass rush play a bigger part of balancing the game. We did this by unlocking non-engaged moves for AI-controlled pass rushers on the edge. These non-engaged moves are the speed rushes introduced in Madden NFL 21 for user-controlled pass rushers. However, we did add some additional levels of tuning to edge rush, specifically so that the ratings match-up of the blocker vs. defender is more heavily differentiated than in the playtest, to increase the win-chance for really good pass blockers and decrease the win-chance for lower-rated pass rushers.

●Too much pass rush pressure when only rushing two or three on Competitive game style

DEV NOTE:

To further balance the increased pass rush in Madden NFL 22, we’ve added some logic specific to the Competitive game style so that it will be very difficult to get consistent pressure when rushing three or less, especially vs. double teams.

●Gunslinger/QB Releases Changes

DEV NOTE:

For launch, we are distributing the Gunslinger ability to more QBs. We will continue investigating ways to improve QB releases for future title updates, while still ensuring that QBs are properly differentiated and that all QBs cannot make every throw that elite QBs can.

●QB Contain not always effective in certain situations

DEV NOTE:

Contain animations now goes deeper into the backfield; more conservative pursuit angles to keep contain after

disengaging away from blocks.

●Drive Summary in-game banner showing bad clock data is fixed

●First Down line missing is fixed

●Offensive Line abilities don’t seem effective

DEV NOTE:

These abilities have been tuned and reworked to function more effectively.

●Improvements for defense vs. TE Delay Fades:

○Logic to improve QB Contain logic vs. delay blockers

○Tuning to improve pass rusher logic to properly disengage away from a delay blocker

○Logic to improve QB Contain logic vs. delay blockers in double teams

○Tuning to man coverage to stick in coverage on the TE in delay longer

●RPO Fixes:

○ Tuning to improve the angle of the read defender when playing the QB to avoid faster QBs from being able to run around him

○ The QB will no longer be able to turn and run before completing his first step after faking the handoff

●Wind Direction Indicator fixed to show the appropriate direction of the wind

●Playbooks:

○A variety of updates to all 32 team playbooks has been completed for the launch of Madden NFL 22. Most of these

updates were not in the beta, but players will notice new plays and formations for every team.

○New NFL Live Playbook content is already in progress for delivery via title updates in an effort to keep playbooks fresh and exciting for our players all season long. We’ll go more in depth to discuss playbook updates in an upcoming Gridiron Notes devoted to nothing but playbooks, so stay tuned!