Madden NFL 23's Last-Gen and Current-Gen Versions Will Be Very Different
Madden NFL 23 is going to feature some pretty stark differences between its last-gen and current-gen versions of the game. For the third straight year, Madden is going to be releasing on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in addition to landing on new hardware in PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. And while this launch strategy will allow the game to get into the hands of more players, the difference between these iterations will be more stark than it has been over the past couple of years.
As a whole, the biggest new addition to Madden NFL 23 will be a system that EA is calling FieldSENSE. This new gameplay system is going to completely overhaul how Madden is experienced and is by far the most integral change seen in this year's title. FieldSENSE won't only be changing how the animations look and function in Madden NFL 23, but it will also add entirely new gameplay mechanics. This is most notably seen with a complete overhaul to the passing mechanics in Madden which will now be more "skill-based" than ever before.
The problem here is that FieldSENSE is something that will only be available on the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of Madden NFL 23. Because of this, PS4 and Xbox One players will be missing out on the game's most standout new feature and will instead largely be met with gameplay that was similar to what was seen in Madden NFL 22. EA isn't intentionally holding out on bringing FieldSENSE to PS4 and Xbox One versions of Madden 23, it's instead that these older platforms aren't capable of implementing the technology that FieldSense uses.
In short, it seems like this could very well be the final year that Madden ends up coming to PS4 and Xbox One. That's not something that Electronic Arts itself has confirmed in any capacity just yet, but it seems obvious that older consoles are starting to limit what developers want to do with Madden moving forward. So if you haven't upgraded to a PS5 or Xbox Series X console just yet and you're someone that plays Madden annually, this might be something that you'll want to look into more in the near future.
Madden NFL 23 is set to release later this year on August 19th and will be coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC. The game's cover this year will also come in three different formats, all of which feature John Madden himself.