Some Madden 19 Predictions as Another NFL Season Comes to a Close

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In a few days, the Eagles will play the Patriots in Super Bowl 52. Then the lights will be dark and the long offseason will begin. The same can be said for Madden 18, which is nearing the end of its annual cycle.

This was mostly a successful year for Madden. EA was able to make a fairly smooth transition to the Frostbite Engine. They implemented FIFA's popular Weekend Leagues in Ultimate Team, and above all, introduced Longshot—a new story mode that earned a Writer's Guild nomination. That's on top of the usual gameplay tweaks—the line play is really excellent this year—and smaller additions like the ability to play live games.

It's not a stretch to say that Madden is the strongest game in EA's sports portfolio right now, especially with FIFA's recent decline. As I've said before, we're well past the bad old days of the early 2010s.

But as always, there are plenty of areas in which Madden can improve. We won't know what EA has up its sleeve until E3, but we can still make a few reasonable predictions regarding what will be addressed in the new year. Here's what I'm expecting to see in Madden 19.

A Franchise Mode Overhaul

Fans have been crying out for this since at least Madden 25. EA has made plenty of improvements to franchise mode in the past year, but it still lags behind most other sports sims. Even NHL is better now.

NBA 2K and NHL have laid out the blueprint for what a successful franchise mode should look like in 2018: a fully customizable mode in which you can build your own teams and place them where you see fit. As always, the more control you give players, the happier they will be. And Madden's franchise offers the least control of any major sports sim.

If EA can't introduce player-created teams, then it can least take a crack at improving Owner Mode. I've been banging this drum for what seems like forever now, but Owner Mode is both broken and totally divorced from the actual realities of being an owner in the NFL. Worse, it's a necessary evil if you want to move your team to another city.

One thing EA shouldn't change is online franchise. Madden has had one of the best online franchise modes in gaming since 2013, and EA shouldn't mess with that. But in most other respects, it's time for EA to take a hard look at making franchise mode more engaging and meaningful. If nothing else, a solid incentive to play beyond the Super Bowl would be nice.

In any case, fans have been vocal enough that I would be very surprised if EA passed on franchise mode improvements again this year. We're going to see something. It's just a question of what.

No Switch Version for Madden 19

I would be very surprised if Madden NFL came out on the Switch.

EA dipped a toe in the water with FIFA last year, but otherwise it seems content to take a "wait and see" approach, even as the Switch continues to break sales records.

One of the main factors working against Madden 19 on the Switch is its use of the Frostbite Engine. EA's proprietary engine isn't particularly scalable, which is one of the major reasons that FIFA 18 for the Switch stuck with a modified version of the Ignite Engine. It looked fine, but it nevertheless invited negative comparisons to NBA 2K, which was more of a straight port.

Additionally, Ultimate Team is not a great fit for a portable console like the Switch, which is where EA makes most of its money. Ultimate Team was a ghost town when FIFA launched on the console last year. That will make it harder to make a case for the system in 2018.

Finally, EA is apt to remember its experience with the Wii, where it struggled to gain traction despite making a big effort to tailor its sports games to the console's limitations. It may simply decide that the demographics are not in its favor and avoid devoting the resources necessary to put Madden on the Switch.

So while FIFA may well return to the Switch in 2018, I doubt that the rest of EA's sports portfolio will follow it. But if Madden does make a surprise appearance on the Switch, it could say a great deal about EA's opinion of the system going forward.

Longshot 2: Welcome to the NFL

Okay, I don't actually know what Longshot 2 will look like. But as it was one of the most popular and well-received elements of Madden 18 last year, it's definitely going to be back.

The first episode of Longshot ended with Devin Wade and Colt Cruise heading to the NFL, though it was left on a bit of a cliffhanger. Would Colt and Devin be on the same team? Would they be staring each other down as rivals? In my game, Colt ended up on the Packers, which means I now hate him. Sorry, Scott Porter.

Longshot producer Mike Young has been adamant about avoiding the traditional "play a game, watch a cutscene" structure favored by FIFA's The Journey, which means Longshot 2 is apt to be much more about the trials and travails of adjusting to life in the NFL, CTE and all. With all 32 teams in play, it will be interesting to see which players make cameos. Will Tom Brady go out of his way to ignore Wade on the Pats? Will he be lectured about remaining celibate until marriage by Russell Wilson? These are the things we want to see!

More likely every team will have a generic coach figure running Wade through film study as he tries desperately to compete for a starting point. And this being the NFL, he'll probably be cut at some point as well. Wouldn't it be funny to pick your favorite team in Longshot 1 only to be cut in training camp?

Okay, now I can't wait for Longshot 2. Bring it on.

Squad Battles in Ultimate Team

EA always adds something to Ultimate Team, and Madden usually winds up following in FIFA's footsteps. In that vein, Squad Battles—a mode in which you play a rotating series of AI-controlled squads to earn leaderboard points and coins—seems like a likely candidate for Madden 19. It would slot in neatly into Madden's existing structure, and it would abrogate the need to keep churning out solo challenges. But regardless of what form it takes, Ultimate Team will definitely have some sort of hook to get people to keep coming back.

A Focus on Play-Action and AI

Madden likes to play into whatever the hot trend or storyline was from the previous year. Madden 25 gave us the read-option after Robert Griffin III tore up the league in 2012; Madden 15 put a special emphasis on defense in the wake of Seattle's commanding Super Bowl win, and Madden 18 focused on passing following Tom Brady's historic comeback. So what trends will Madden 19 try to incorporate into its gameplay?

Here are a few notable storylines from 2017: Dominating defenses from Minnesota, Philadelphia, LA, and Jacksonville; a trend toward play-action passing and screenplays, and backup QBs galore. The Patriots are apt to win another Super Bowl, but otherwise it's been a very weird year. This has been the year of the team over the individual.

With that in mind, I'm inclined to believe that Madden 19's focus will be on refining the screen game and overhauling Madden's artificial intelligence. AI has been a sore point of late, and calling it out as a talking point will let EA highlight all the ways in which teams were able to transcend the loss of a few key players in 2017. If EA really wanted to drive the point home, it could break tradition and put the entire Eagles defense on the cover. As a Vikings fan still smarting from their NFC Championship beatdown, I sure wouldn't mind that defense being subjected to the Madden curse.

But who am I kidding? Madden 19's cover athlete is totally going to be Todd Gurley. I'm calling my shot right now.

Regardless, Madden's main task for 2018 is polishing up the bugs and nailing the franchise mode. If they get those elements right, there will be a lot of justifiable excitement for the new year. But we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, the offseason awaits.