They finally fixed franchise. EA. Finally. Fixed. Franchise. Long before the advent of Ultimate Team, the majesty of Madden was being able to control a single team and steer it to Super Bowl glory. In the noughties, it was the series' marquee mode. However, for the last decade, it's been an afterthought. That changes with Madden 26. A wealth of welcome improvements finally render franchise mode essential again – and you're going to play it until the real season's end, and beyond.
The first major step forwards comes in presentation. We hyped the new half-time show in our Madden 26 preview, and it's exactly as hoped, triumphantly emulating the iconic ESPN NFL 2K5 highlights package. Scott Hanson provides key plays from three matches around the league, and repeats the trick in a post-game round up. It's beautifully presented, and fleshes out the world around you – sparking intrigue in your rivals' results, from Week 1 all the way through to January's play-off games. The tiny details raise a smile, too. I had no idea Andrei Iosivas was nicknamed 'Yoshi' until Hanson dropped this trivia nugget to accompany a Cincinnati touchdown.
