Madden NFL 21 Closed Beta Feedback - Plenty of Gameplay Related Details (Gridiron Notes)

Shortly after the Madden NFL 21 Twitch stream, earlier this evening, discussing gameplay updates from the closed beta, the team released their Gridiron Notes on the topic.

The article is filled with details on additional gameplay features, most upvoted feedback and bugs that have been fixed for launch. For those of you asking about #FixFranchise updates, it was said during the Twitch stream multiple times, that details will arrive in early to mid-August.

Below are some of the details in bullet form, but make sure to read the entire blog here.

• The Celebration Run Mechanic will be a one-button mechanic (LT or L2).
• Precision Modifier on LT/L2 is gone, since steering on the left stick is scaled to each ball carrier’s special move rating.
• Pressing LB/L1 will now activate DB Lock-On for your user-controlled player in either pre-play or during play. And RB/R1 is where you’ll now find the Defensive Keys menu that was previously on LB/L1.
• The new Lock-On mechanic allows you to lock your user-controlled player into man coverage behavior on a specific receiver when holding down the LB/L1 button. While locked on, you can steer your player relative to the leverage on the locked-on receiver rather than the whole field, so this allows you to have more control over the movement of your defender.
• A breakdown of the Ball Carrier Archetype Run Styles (Agile – Christian McCaffrey, Agile Small – Tyreek Hill, Agile Tall – Julio Jones, Bruiser – CJ Anderson, Bruiser Quick – Derrick Henry, Bruiser Heavy).

• While the feedback around user defense feeling slow/sluggish was consistent, it was also very polarizing. The speed at which defenders change of direction will be largely unchanged because the vision for gameplay balance is focused more on authentic player movements and strategic decisions.
• Hurdle and Truck button inputs have been reverted back to the way it used to be. Y/Triangle for hurdle, R-Stick up for Truck.
• Offensive and defensive players not reacting to the ball in the air will be improved for launch, dropped interceptions happening too frequently will also be addressed.
• Zone coverage was not completely tuned during the beta and the team listed the fixes and improvements.
• Player switching didn’t feel intuitive and the feedback showed it had more negative consequences than the team would have liked, so switch logic will end up being the same as Madden 20.
• The film study ability will not be available at launch, but will arrive in a title update.
• The team decreased the fatigue penalty on out of position ball carriers that didn’t get hit and increased the fatigue penalty when taking hits, with even more of a penalty on hit-stick tackles.
• The pass-rush was slightly boosted for win probabilities of AI-controlled pass rushers on Simulation All-Pro, Competitive All-Pro and Competitive All-Madden, which will make higher-rated pass rushers have a bit more impact when AI-controlled.
• QB’s can be stripped in the pocket without starting a throw on Competitive

Again, this is just some of the details from the Gridiron Notes, read the entire article here. The next Gridiron Notes on July 31, will focus on X-Factor and Superstar abilities.

Madden NFL 21 launches on August 28, or 3 days earlier by pre-ordering the MVP Edition. EA SPORTS also offers Dual Entitlement, creating ways for players who purchase either an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 to upgrade their copy of Madden NFL 21 from prior generation Xbox One or PlayStation 4 platforms, at no additional cost.

This offer will be in place all the way through the Madden NFL 21 season, up to the release of Madden NFL 22, so players can upgrade whenever they first purchase their new console within that period. Of note, physical discs cannot currently be used to upgrade to discless consoles.