It’s been somewhat of a rough few years for the Madden NFL video games. Madden NFL 21 saw the series reach its lowest point ever, according to both critics and fans, but since then, it’s been slowly improving, with each year’s game being just a little bit better than the last. Madden NFL 26 doesn’t break through to the series’ former glory, but it does maintain the series’ upward trajectory.
Madden NFL 26 is currently sitting at a score of 72 on review aggregator Metacritic. Only the PS5 version of the game currently has enough reviews to form an average rating, but it’s still a reason for Madden fans to be happy, as that is the highest Metacritic score a game in the series has received since Madden NFL 20. That said, it’s only a small step up from the score of 70 that Madden NFL 25 received, suggesting that the improvements made this year are minor at best.
Franchise mode underwent some big changes this year, and critics are mostly positive about them, with IGN in particular saying that it’s “the best Franchise Mode has been since I started playing back in Madden 17.” Coach creator has been overhauled, and the old skill tree system has been replaced with a skill points system that gives your players weekly bonuses. Though it’s not all upsides, as the minigame system in the mode continues to be panned, much like it was in Madden NFL 25.
This year marks the first time the series has come to the Nintendo Switch family of consoles, debuting on the Switch 2. Reviews for the Switch 2 version report that the game doesn’t look great compared to other console versions and suffers from annoyingly long load times, as well as the fact that the frame rate is locked to 40fps. However, it is a stable build of the game that those looking to play Madden on the go will enjoy.
Considering the much more favorable reception EA’s other football series — College Football — received when it released recently, as seen in our College Football 26 review roundup. this may come as a bit of a disappointment for the company. The Madden NFL series is gradually improving, however, and getting back into people’s good graces — though based on these reviews, it’s going to take more drastic improvements than the ones seen in Madden NFL 26 to truly rival the series’ best days.
