Madden NFL 25 Reveals First Gameplay Details and Mode Revamps

Madden NFL 25 drops its first salvo of info about gameplay and mode changes.

By Ricky Frech

After revealing the Madden NFL 25 cover a few days ago, developer Electronic Arts has revealed the first details about the most important part of a new sports game: the on-field product. The latest gameplay and mode breakdown gives Madden NFL 25 players a solid idea of what to expect when the football simulation launches later this year. Of course, it's hard to say exactly how well all of this has been implemented without a gameplay trailer or time on the sticks, but the former is coming next week. Think of this info dump as a first course in the Madden NFL 25 dinner, with the main entrée launching on June 18th in the form of the first gameplay trailer.

Electronic Arts has targeted a few key areas of improvement for Madden NFL 25. The team is delivering changes to defense that should make bone-crunching hits feel even better. Madden is now using physics-based tackling to give the game extra realism. Many players complain about Madden being animation-based, so this will hopefully add back some of that realism that went missing when the team transferred the series to the Frostbite engine. That said, we need to actually see it in action to know how good it looks. The same can be said for the updated Hit Stick, which is now timing-based. If that gives players more control over impact hits and trucks, it can only be a good thing.

The Madden team is also touting improved ball carrier control. This is something that feels like it's been mentioned every year, so it's a feature we'll need to see in action to judge, but EA says players can now "run the rock with unparalleled confidence and command." The team has also updated the playbooks to add more diversity between teams.

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In terms of changes to modes, Madden NFL 25 has rebuilt the NFL Draft night experience in Franchise mode. Players will see commissioner Roger Goodell take to the stage to deliver picks. They're also promising "dynamic storylines" that will play out over a year, giving the mode even more replayability. Over in Superstar Mode and Ultimate Team, it doesn't seem like much is changing, though the dev team did promise "6v6 arcade-like" events in the card-collecting mode.

Madden NFL 25 launches on August 16th for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms. Remember, you can get three days of early access if you order one of the deluxe editions. Be sure to check back next week on June 18th when the team unveils the first gameplay trailer.

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