EA Sports has delivered the first of many title updates for Madden NFL 26 following its launch. Among the content additions in this update is the introduction of three European stadiums: the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, and Dublin Stadium. Players also have access to a brand-new playbook curated by former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert.
This patch brought the Nike Rivalries program to the game, which unlocked brand-new uniforms for some teams from the AFC East and NFC West. This promo will be a staple of Madden for at least four years with each iteration having a different focus.
In regards to the mentioned gameplay changes, EA adjusted a couple of plays to fix issues and correct balance problems:
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Cover 2 Tampa: The middle defender now gets deeper, maintaining better leverage position against deep threats, especially vs. 3×1 formations.
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Cover 2 Hard Flats: Addressed an issue with hard flats where defenders were dropping too deep and too far inside before reacting to flat routes. Defenders now drop more accurately with their zone responsibilities, improving coverage consistency in the shallow flats.
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Cover 3 Match: Logic improvements for defenders when reacting to slot WRs attempting to outleverage the defense on deep routes. This includes Buzz Mable and Zone Blitz 3 playcalls.
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Cover 6 and Cover 4 Palms: Fixed an issue where outside quarters CBs in Cover 6 and Cover 4 Palms were oftentimes losing the press giving up easy touchdowns. Adjusted the CBs alignment so they will no longer attempt to press the WR.
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Zone coverage defenders now drop back quicker when shading coverage ‘overtop.’
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Fixed a post play animation defect where a defender would do “read steps” when standing in place after the whistle.
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Addressed a visual issue around the previous play graphic obscuring the offensive play call formation.
Franchise Mode, among other changes, should take away less time with card transitions:
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Addressed our UI Transitions surrounding the player card. Reducing the transition time it takes to go into the player card.
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Resolved an issue allowing commissioners to send multiple league invites simultaneously.
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Addressed an issue that prevented edge players from adding pass rushing traits.
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Addressed an issue during the Draft where the draft board was improperly transparent, showing through to the background.
Here are the adjustments made to Superstar Mode and Ultimate Team:
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Fumble rate chance has been decreased in snow games.
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Fixed an issue where players would play in the wrong position.
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Fixed a rare issue where players’ knees would be invisible during the NFL Combine.
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Several stability fixes.
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Play A Friend will now respect each individual users passing settings.
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Remedied an issue where opening a Fantasy Pack after a H2H game caused visual artifacts during the pack open.
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Fixed an issue where rewards images failed to appear on some screens.
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Fixed multiple occasions where players were navigated to the wrong menu.
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Fixed a text issue where “Rank Down” appeared instead of “Rank Up.”
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Fixed an issue where progress in Ranked was not visually displaying.
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Fixed multiple occasions of overlapping text.
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Fixed an occasional crash when returning to lobbies.
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Items displayed during presentation did not always match their actual rarity.
Finally, the developers fixed an issue where commentators referred to some rookie players by incorrect last names.
