14 DAY TRIAL // EA Sports is one of the most successful gaming development entities in the industry at the moment, responsible for at least two major blockbuster franchises, FIFA and Madden NFL, one solidly performing underdog, NHL, and a game that has failed to find quality for the past few years, NBA Live.
The challenge for such a studio is how to make sure that it makes each yearly installment of its products more appealing to long-term fans while also drawing in new blood in order to keep it relevant with new groups of players.
Madden NFL 15 is a good all-around package, with some interesting improvements to the Connected Franchise, an Ultimate Team complete with more goals and easier team construction, and some cool training moments.
The defensive focus makes games more interesting and gives players more options, even if there are moments when the changes to passing have made the offensive a lot weaker than it should be.
How can EA Sports improve on the current game in order to make sure that fans will pick up next year’s version of the Madden NFL franchise?
I have previously used the focus on data and relevant choices to point out some similarities between the American football sim and Football Manager, which deals with European style soccer, and I suspect that something like its Classic Mode might be an interesting idea for the future.
As the name implies, the new experience would eliminate a lot of the presentation and the avalanche of data that currently defines the game in many ways in order to give players a more streamlined way to simply pick a favorite team and then enjoy a season in no more than let’s say 3 hours.
EA Sports could skip the less interesting sections of a football game in order to focus on the moments which define the final score and give the gamer a chance to influence it by choosing and executing the appropriate play.
A Classic Mode for Madden NFL could also involve less news, less dealing with contracts and with training, a purer focus on the actual action of the series and on the impressive moments it can generate.
One of the biggest problems for modern gamers is that they rarely have enough time to enjoy their favorite titles for as long as they want, and the future of big franchises might involve stripping down features to keep the season going past faster than in previous installments.