Less than two weeks after its official launch on August 14, EA has rolled out the first significant update for Madden NFL 26. Beyond addressing numerous bugs and issues that have emerged since the game`s release, the update introduces the new Nike Rivalries feature. This addition aims to foster a greater sense of “community pride” around the league`s most iconic rivalries.
EA explains that Nike Rivalries is part of a fresh four-year agreement between Nike and the NFL. The initiative seeks to “celebrate football`s most storied rivalries” through customized uniforms that represent their respective cities. Each iteration of Nike Rivalries will spotlight teams from two different divisions; this year, the focus is on the AFC East and NFC West.
EA also announced that the Madden NFL 26 update includes a custom playbook developed in collaboration with retired quarterback Kurt Benkert. This playbook, named Benkert`s Dimes, will be accessible in Play Now mode when selecting playbooks.
The remaining fixes in this update primarily target specific gameplay situations or mechanics. Additionally, EA noted that several other issues would be resolved in future updates. These include incorrect modification of player body types during the class import process, the inability to remove players from the Injured Reserve (IR) list, and inconsistent OVR display for nose tackle archetypes in the user interface.
Below is the complete list of changes included in Madden NFL 26`s first update:
Gameplay Enhancements
- Cover 2 Tampa: The middle defender now drops deeper, maintaining better leverage against deep threats, especially in 3×1 formations.
- Cover 2 Hard Flats: An issue where Hard Flats defenders dropped too deep and too far inside before reacting to flat routes has been resolved. Defenders now drop more accurately to their zone responsibilities, enhancing coverage consistency in shallow flats.
- Cover 3 Match: Logic improvements have been implemented for defenders reacting to Slot WRs attempting to outleverage the defense on deep routes, specifically for Buzz Mable and Zone Blitz 3 playcalls.
- Cover 6 & Cover 4 Palms: Fixed an issue where Outside Quarters CBs frequently lost press coverage, allowing easy touchdowns. CB alignment has been adjusted to prevent them from attempting to press the WR.
- Zone coverage defenders now retreat quicker when shading coverage ‘overtop’.
- A post-play animation defect where a defender performed “read steps” while standing still after the whistle has been fixed.
- A visual issue where the previous play graphic obscured the offensive play call formation has been addressed.
Franchise Mode Fixes
- UI transitions related to the Player Card have been improved, reducing the time it takes to enter the Player Card.
- Developer Note: This fix currently addresses only entering the Player Card. Our resolution for exiting the player card back to the Franchise Main Menu will be included in our next Title Update.
- An issue allowing commissioners to send multiple league invites simultaneously has been resolved.
- A problem preventing Edge Players from acquiring Pass Rushing Traits has been addressed.
- An issue during the Draft where the Draft Board was improperly transparent, showing the background, has been fixed.
Further System Improvements
- The Class Import Process incorrectly modifying Player Body Types, specifically Offensive Linemen, has been corrected.
- Players on the IR list can now be removed.
- Nose Tackle archetypes now display the correct OVR in the front end.
Superstar Mode Updates
- Fumble rate chance has been decreased in Snow Games.
- An issue where players would play in the wrong position has been fixed.
- A rare issue where players’ knees were invisible during the NFL Combine has been corrected.
- Several stability fixes have been implemented.
Ultimate Team Enhancements
- Play A Friend mode will now respect each individual user`s passing settings.
- An issue causing visual artifacts when opening a Fantasy Pack after a H2H game has been remedied.
- A problem where rewards images failed to appear on some screens has been fixed.
- Multiple instances where players were navigated to the wrong menu have been corrected.
- A text issue displaying “Rank Down” instead of “Rank Up” has been fixed.
- An issue where progress in Ranked mode was not visually displaying has been resolved.
- Multiple occurrences of overlapping text have been addressed.
- An occasional crash when returning to lobbies has been fixed.
- Items displayed during presentation now consistently match their actual rarity.
Audio Adjustments
- An issue where commentary referred to some rookies by an incorrect last name has been fixed.