My short verdict: Madden NFL 26 launched rough, and EA Sports‘ first patch tidies some edges but leaves the bigger gameplay problems untouched. Fans are frustrated with repeated play exploits, weird animations, and stability quirks… the update feels like a bandage more than a real fix.
I spent time with the game and, honestly, it can be compelling for short bursts. But the bugs are obvious – invisible knees at the Combine, teams switching midgame, and defensive reads that turn on and off like a cheap light switch. Players expected the first content update to tackle the worst offenders, and instead, they got a mixed bag.
Community complaints have accumulated on the Madden subreddit thread, with posts highlighting both gameplay exploits and fundamental polish issues. One user asked, “Did they fix Man at all? Or will 78 OVR TEs still beat Sauce pretty regularly?” Another pointed out that long loading and player card issues feel like things that should have been handled before launch: “Having to wait multiple title updates for them to ‘fix’ player card loading times is insane. That’s something you fix in the offseason.”
There are some real improvements in defensive behavior, which matters, but it still feels far too easy to run the same play and have it work repeatedly. Who thought missing knees would slip through QA? Well, it happened, and fans are annoyed.
EA says the update will be available to download on August 28th, 2025 on your platform of choice, but many players wanted deeper gameplay fixes rather than UI and presentation tweaks.
Madden NFL 26 Title Update – August 28th, 2025 – Full Notes
Gameplay
- Cover 2 Tampa – The middle defender now gets deeper, maintaining better leverage position against deep threats, especially vs. 3×1 formations.
- 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.
- 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
- Cover 6 & 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. We adjusted the CBs alignment so they will no longer attempt to press the WR.
- Zone coverage defenders now drop back quicker when shading coverage ‘overtop’.
- Fixed a post play animation defect where a defender would do “read steps” when standing in place after the whistle.
- Addressed a visual issue around the previous play graphic obscuring the offensive play call formation.
We’ve also added a completely customized playbook in partnership with Kurt Benkert called “Benkert’s Dimes” – you can find it in Play Now when selecting your playbook. Stay tuned to EAMaddenNFL on X to learn more on what we’re doing with this playbook!
Presentation
- Added 3 international stadiums to Play Now, Franchise, and Superstar:
- Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany
- Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain
- Dublin Stadium in Ireland
- Fixed crash and stability issues.
Franchise
- Addressed our UI Transitions surrounding the Player Card. Reducing the transition time it takes to go into the Player Card.
- Dev Notes: This current fix only addresses going into the Player Card. Our resolution for exiting out of the player card back to the Franchise Main Menu will be in our next TU.
- Resolved an issue allowing commissioners to send multiple league invites simultaneously.
- Addressed an issue that prevented Edge Players from adding Pass Rushing Traits
- Addressed an issue during the Draft where the Draft Board was improperly transparent, showing through to the background.
DEV NOTE: Here’s some of the issues we’re aware of and working on a fix in a future Title Update:
- Class Import Process incorrectly modifying Player Body Types, specifically Offensive Linemen.
- Players on IR unable to be peeled off the IR list.
- Nose Tackle archetypes displaying a different OVR in the front end.
Superstar Mode
- Fumble rate chance has been decreased in Snow Games.
- Fixed an issue where players would play in the wrong position.
- Fixed a rare issue where players’ knees would be invisible during the NFL Combine.
- Several stability fixes.
Ultimate Team
- Play A Friend will now respect each individual users passing settings
- Remedied an issue where opening a Fantasy Pack after a H2H game caused visual artifacts during the pack open
- Fixed an issue where rewards images failed to appear on some screens
- Fixed multiple occasions where players were navigated to the wrong menu
- Fixed a text issue where “Rank Down” appeared instead of “Rank Up”
- Fixed an issue where progress in Ranked was not visually displaying
- Fixed multiple occasions of overlapping text
- Fixed an occasional crash when returning to lobbies
- Items displayed during presentation did not always match their actual rarity
Audio
- Fixed an issue where commentary referred to a few rookies by an incorrect last name.
Catch short updates and hot takes on X and Bluesky after the comments settle.
