February 9 sees Madden NFL 23 joining the service’s catalog for console and PC via EA Play, while SD Gundam Battle Alliance arrives on the same day for console, PC, and cloud. On February 14, TaleWorld Entertainment’s acclaimed strategy RPG Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord becomes available for subscribers on console, PC, and cloud.

On the next day, February 15, city builder Cities: Skylines will be added to the service for cloud and console (Xbox Series X/S, specifically), while February 16 will bring the recently-announced Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition to subscribers on console, PC, and cloud.

Finally, the biggest release of the batch, Atomic Heart, will be added to the service day and date upon launch on February 21 for console, PC, and cloud.

In second place is fellow new release Saints Row, in spite of its less-than-stellar critical reception. Another new release, Soul Hackers 2, has debuted in 15th place. MultiVersus and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which debuted at No. 1 and No. 4 the previous month, have dropped down to No. 5 and No. 10 respectively.

Meanwhile, Marvel’s Spider-Man has seen a massive jump in sales thanks to the launch of its PC version, going from 84th place in July’s charts to third place in August. It’s the best-selling game on Steam in the United States for the month. Fellow PlayStation title Horizon Forbidden West slots in at No. 12, partially thanks to price promotion, and is the fourth best-selling game of the year so far.

On the hardware front, the PS5 is the best-selling platform for the month of August in terms of both units sold and revenue generated from sales. Year-to-date, the Nintendo Switch is the highest-selling console of 2022 so far in terms of units sold, while the PS5 leads where dollar sales are concerned.

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First off, you must be playing as an Owner and not a Coach or Player. Select “Everyone (Can Relocate)” in the League Settings at the start. The team won’t relocate in the first year, so bide your time. Once you’re the Owner, go to “Manage Team” in the Main Menu and then select “Stadium.” Choose “Relocate,” and in a few weeks, the “Start Relocation” message should pop up.

In the subsequent weeks, you’ll be able to select the team name and logo, a design for uniforms and finally, the stadium design. When selecting a stadium, you have the option of a cheaper or more expensive stadium. While the former is good for saving money, the latter will earn more in the future. Take these into account when selecting. Once done, the relocation should be complete by the end of the season.

Of course, where you relocate your team is also important. Choosing the market size (which determines the funds received) and the personality of the fans (which affects how much they’ll support you) is also important. Take a look at all of the different cities that you can relocate to:

• Oakland – Large market size. Front Runner personality.
• Orlando – Decent market size. Front Runner personality.
• Salt Lake City – Small market size. Loyal personality.
• Portland – Average market size. Hardcore personality.
• Dublin – Decent market size. Laid Back personality.
• Oklahoma City – Average market size. Loyal personality.
• Brooklyn – Huge market size. Hardcore personality.
• Memphis – Small market size. Laid Back personality.
• Chicago – Huge market size. Hardcore personality.
• London – Huge market size. Loyal personality.
• Mexico City – Huge market size. Hardcore personality.
• Houston – Huge market size. Loyal personality.
• Toronto – Huge market size. Loyal personality.
• San Antonio – Average market size. Loyal personality.
• St. Louis – Average market size. Laid Back personality.
• Sacramento – Decent market size. Laid Back personality.
• Columbus – Decent market size. Front Runner personality.
• Austin – Decent market size. Front Runner personality.
• San Diego – Large market size. Laid Back personality.

How to Earn Coins

Coins in Madden NFL 23 are the currency used to purchase Packs for Cards but can also be used to purchase Cards directly. You can’t buy Coins with real money unless you want to risk being banned or having account information stolen. Coins are doled out when logging in each day, but there are reliable ways to farm them.

First up is completing solo challenges, which reward more Coins based on their difficulty. The second, and arguably most lucrative, is to sell whatever items and Cards you have with Quick Selling. Though it won’t net the most profit, it’s recommended for less valuable cards that won’t fetch as much in the Auction House. You also can’t sell some Cards bound to you (as indicated by the “BND” icon on them), but can Quick Sell them.

If you’re looking to play the Auction House, then keep an eye on good Cards being sold for low prices. Then when the Card becomes valuable later, sell it for profit.

Madden NFL 23 is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC.

The first method is logging in daily, which grants a pack or new card now and then. You also have Field Passes, which provide packs, items and more via reward tracks. Though there are three types – Season, Program, and Competitive – completing them can provide access to cards like Derrick Brown Headliners 86 OVR and free packs. Make sure you’re completing dailies since they provide additional seasonal XP when stacked over time and items that can be sold for Coins to purchase cards and packs.

If you’re starting with Ultimate Team, the Solo Challenges are a great way to grind out season XP, Coins, and upgrades. You can even net the likes of 86 OVR Randy Moss (CB) for free. More than anything, these offer a great way to learn the game before jumping into multiplayer.

The Auction House is where you’ll spend a lot of time in Ultimate Team. Not only can you purchase Cards from here, but sell them as well (if you’re not Quick Selling, that is). You have a lot of flexibility when purchasing cards, whether it’s netting Cards for training upgrades or picking up a high OVR player. It’s even possible to turn a profit by picking up high OVR cards for cheap and flipping them later when they become more valuable.

Finally, if unsure what to do next, keep checking the Missions tab. It provides a convenient list of objectives which yield decent rewards.

For more details, check out the video below from Popular Stranger, which offers numerous tips for success in MUT. Madden NFL 23 is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. Check out our review here for more details.

Does it do that? Well, not really. There is a larger helping of tweaks and additions compared to the past few entries, but fundamentally, the moment-to-moment gameplay still feels like it always has, general offerings in terms of modes and progression are a similar lot to what we’ve been getting, and the whole package does ultimately fit in with the current trajectory of the series with conservative improvements and nibbles around the edges of what Madden really should be doing to win back the affection of its own fanbase. Of course, with EA being the only publisher that is allowed to make NFL games at this time, and a large enough audience of gamers who will continue to buy it no matter what, there is little reason for EA to do anything too drastic, and Madden NFL 23, once again, shows us that.

"There is a larger helping of tweaks and additions compared to the past few entries, but fundamentally, the moment-to-moment gameplay still feels like it always has, general offerings in terms of modes and progression are a similar lot to what we’ve been getting, and the whole package does ultimately fit in with the current trajectory of the series with conservative improvements and nibbles around the edges of what Madden really should be doing to win back the affection of its own fanbase."

The game starts with an introduction to the golden years of John Madden actually being on the field, those of us that have been around a little longer might get a nice hit of nostalgia from this, but once that euphoria starts to wane, a more familiar picture starts to form. Many current Madden fans will be pleased to see the return of Ultimate Team, and with just as much focus on nudging players into microtransactions and online play, EA is apparently very aware of that. Unlocking different level players is addictive of course, and serves as the energy that keeps the mode interesting. From there you can compare them to other players, add them to the eligible sets, auction them off, trade them, you get the idea. Missions and challenges can let you earn cards more organically than previous entries, making the mode feel a little beefier than before. Ultimate team also has online head-to-head, which, once you get your arms around everything, will likely be where players end up spending most of their time.

Face of the franchise also feels pretty familiar to last year’s iteration. It works well, and could be the centerpiece of the experience depending on what you’re looking to have out of Madden NFL 23, but ultimately, it’s a brief affair that only sees subtle improvements from last year’s like slightly better graphics and marginally better writing and acting. From picking the right starting contract and on, you play a rookie starting out their pro career with a little bit of experience under their belt, trying to prove themselves in a bigger way. The concepts of being a rising star in the league with all eyes on you and an underdog with a lot to prove seem to clash at times in a narrative sense, but the progression of upgrading your player is really where it shines best. You can play through the games more-or-less like normal or sim your way through them to get back to the nitty gritty of unlocks and making choices, so if you’re in a hurry to see it through it can certainly be streamlined.

Knowing your role and playing to the strengths of the player type you selected is presented as the key to this mode, but there’s not much weight to those choices though, since you can reassign your skill upgrades and even change your physique later on. Ultimately, I walked away from this mode feeling similarly underwhelmed as I did with last year’s. The pieces are already there for this to be the best part of the game and for it to really push Madden back into gamer’s good graces, as a great redemption story or a story about an aging icon like Ben Roethlisberger or Tom Brady passing the torch to a new custom player, if executed well, could really compliment the inner workings of this mode and make it a break-out feature. But as it is, we just get a slightly better version of the rise-to-fame character arc that everyone has seen countless times in countless other mediums. It feels like a missed opportunity at best, and woefully out of touch at worst.

"Face of the franchise also feels pretty familiar to last year’s iteration. It works well, and could be the centerpiece of the experience depending on what you’re looking to have out of Madden NFL 23, but ultimately, it’s a brief affair that only sees subtle improvements from last year’s like slightly better graphics and marginally better writing and acting."

Out of the annual tweaks to the general gameplay that we’ve come to expect, you do have some new goodies to try out. For instance, there is some new flexibility with passing systems which allows one passing system more focused on power and one more focused on accuracy. Both of which use a timing meter that you have one shot at negotiating correctly and do give you a more nuanced sense of control over the ball. You can also just use the classic system from previous games where the type of pass you make depends on the corresponding button combination. I liked the power-based system more than the accuracy one personally, but not enough to pull me away from the classic style completely.

I imagine that these alternative passing systems will afford more advanced players better chances of pulling off riskier throws, but for most, this is an area where Madden really doesn’t need to fix anything in my opinion, but hey, more options is never a bad thing. You also have the ability to break through tackles by tapping the X button in theory, but with how long it takes to shake somebody off, I was rarely never able to do much more than just delay the inevitable by turning a tackle into a scuffle until another OT piled on and finished the job. A more multi-layered tackling and collision animation set that is part of what EA is referring to as “field sense” which is a series of systems that includes more fluid animations, also has emerged here, and that gives a much more nuanced look to different tackles than Madden NFL 22’s handful of canned animations.

It’s a nice touch and works to sell the illusion of truly physics-based tackling more often than not, but can also make some moments with uncommon variables look even weirder than they would have in last year’s game. All that said, Madden NFL 23 handily runs and plays better on the PS5 than any previous Madden game has played on anything over the last decade as far as I can tell. While the gameplay itself hasn’t been overhauled by any stretch, this is absolutely the most stable version of what we’ve been getting out of the series. Graphics are sharper, and performance mode keeps everything pretty smooth. The gulf of detail between players and camera men in the end zone and audience members is still a staggering one, but it does look like some effort has started going into closing that gap.

"Madden NFL 23 handily runs and plays better on the PS5 than any previous Madden game has played on anything over the last decade."

Some questionable ratings for certain players aside, most of the choices made for Madden NFL 23 do make sense. The problem is that there isn’t enough of those types of choices to really score many extra points. If you’re a die-hard Madden fan who has been loving the series lately, this iteration will give you what you want. But if you have been waiting for that big overhaul or reboot that might revitalize your interest, then you may want to continue that wait. It does more than the past several entries in the way of quality-of-life improvements, but by continuing to do so in such an iterative way, it ends up highlighting its potential more than actually achieving it, which at this point is a little frustrating.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Rollerdrome

OlliOlli World developer Roll7 is known for its chill skating experiences but Rollerdrome goes down a more violent route. Described as a “skating game where you’re not just skating” and a “shooting game where you’re not just shooting,” the story is set in 2030 where esports, social media, flat-screen displays and more have never been invented. Instead, the public gets its entertainment from Rollerdrome, a bloody arena sport where combatants skate and gun each other down. As Kara, players battle snipers, hooligans, armored foes, and even robots to make their mark.

The mechanics are fairly straightforward – shoot enemies to recover health, perform tricks to regenerate ammo. Each arena is a skate park with numerous possibilities, as one skillfully dodges attacks, slows down time for precise shots and chains combos together. Rollerdrome is out on August 16^th for PS4, PS5 and PC. PlayStation Plus subscribers and PC players can get it at a reduced price for the first two weeks.

Two Point Campus

Two Point Studios brings its zany humor and management sim shenanigans into the world of education with Two Point Campus. Create your own university by placing various decorations, fences and vegetation, and then hire staff to teach your students. These aren’t your typical courses though as students will attend Knight School (with full medieval armor and jousting), take on Wizardry for magical duels and potion-crafting, or Spy School to root out any rival spies.

As you know more about the students and their personalities, you can organize different clubs and events to better foster their development. Two Point Campus is out on August 9^th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Rumbleverse

Following its work on Seasons 2 and 3 of Killer Instinct on Xbox, Iron Galaxy Studios is back with a brand new melee-focused title in Rumbleverse, which releases August 11^th on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Unlike the combo-tastic 3D fighter though, this a free-to-play battle royale where 40 players are dumped into the map and must fight to the end. Close quarters brawls are the name of the game, as you unleash basic and strong attacks, and acquire magazines to learn more powerful special moves and takedowns.

Use weapons like baseball bats, climb anywhere and stay within the circle to ultimately emerge victorious. Along with a Battle Pass, it includes micro-transactions for different cosmetics to customize one’s avatar with. It may not feed the combo-breaker crowd but Rumbleverse looks intriguing, if nothing else.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, the critically-acclaimed, multi-million selling open-world title, finally comes to PC on August 13th. It features Peter Parker as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, having battled villains for years and protected Manhattan. Things take a turn though when Mister Negative and his gang start causing an uproar. Who else but Spider-Man to stop them?

As an enhanced version of Insomniac’s 2018 title, the remaster adds new suits, ray tracing and 4K resolution support. Ben Jordan also replaces John Bubniak as the face of Peter Parker. The PC version offers a number of options and features including higher-quality ray tracing, unlocked frame rates, Ultra-wide monitor support, mouse and keyboard controls, and Nvidia DLSS and DLAA support. If Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War (2018) are any indication, then Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered should be another PC hit for Sony.

Thymesia

Though it seems like just another Souls-like, OverBorder Studio’s Thymesia embodies a horror atmosphere with its plague-ridden setting. As a mysterious character named Corvus, players explore the fallen Kingdom of Hermes, battling infected creatures that roam the streets. Corvus is capable of fixing things (hopefully) but must rediscover lost memories to learn the truth. In the meantime, one must fight their way through, wielding plague weapons and using a raven form, complete with executions, to slay foes. Thymesia releases on August 18^th for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.

Madden NFL 23

Another year, another slate of EA Sports titles, kicking off first with Madden NFL 23 on August 19^th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. Featuring John Madden as the cover star in honor of his passing last year, features like Face of the Franchise, Ultimate Team, and more return for another run. There are plenty of changes though, like Motivations and Tags that can influence Free Agent negotiations, the new Free Agency Hub, and new Scouting features for a more “efficient” process.

Current-gen versions also get FieldSENSE, which offers new control mechanics and branching animation technology for mid-air knockouts and Skill-Based Passing. It sounds all well and good but will this year’s edition finally carry the franchise forward? We’ll have to wait and find out.

Saints Row

Saints Row marks the first mainline title in the series since 2013’s Saints Row 4. However, instead of following the 3^rd Street Saints and fighting aliens, Volition’s newest open-world epic is a reboot. Set in Santa Ileso, it sees The Boss starting out as a grunt for Marshall Defense Industries. Eventually, they work with Neenah and Kevin, disgruntled members of Los Panteros and The Idols, along with entrepreneur Eli to form their own gang.

Don’t let the whole “start-up company” approach fool you though – Saints Row still features plenty of chaos, from establishing businesses to front for illegal activities like heists to sandbox rampages. Customization is more in-depth than ever, starting with The Boss and extending to your fellow gang members, weapons, cars, and much more. With nine districts to explore, tons of side activities (including old favorites like Insurance Fraud), and drop-in/drop-out co-op, Saints Row looks to be a fun time. It releases on August 23^rd for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Google Stadia.

Soul Hackers 2

If you’ve been itching for some more Shin Megami Tensei-style gameplay, then Soul Hackers 2 should fill that void. Releasing on August 26^th worldwide for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC, it’s set in the future where two factions of summoners are at war and civilization as a whole is on the decline. After predicting the end of the world, the mysterious Aion sends two agents – Ringo and Figue – to stop it.

Many elements of the franchise – like fusing demons and summoning them in battle – are still a thing here. But each character relies on COMPs with different effects, exploiting enemy weaknesses for Stacks, and then using these for massively damaging attacks. In between exploring dungeons and upgrading COMPs, players will also hangout with different party members, increasing their Soul Level to unlock new abilities.

Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed

Following up on the Destroy All Humans! remake from 2020, Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed is a remake of Pandemic Studios’ 2006 sequel. Crypto returns, blasting his way through a myriad of locations like Tunguska, Takoshima, Bay City and Solaris. Weapons like the Meteor Strike for calling down meteors and the Burrow Beast which summons an underground monster to consume enemies, are available. Or you could use the flying saucer’s Quantum Deconstructor and Anti-Gravfield to wreak destruction on entire cities.

Abduct humans to upgrade your skills or hop into local split-screen co-op and play through the entire story with a friend. Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed arrives on August 30^th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

F1 Manager 2022

A proper management simulation for Formula One has been a long time coming but Frontier Developments’ F1 Manager 2022 could be the one. Based on the 2022 Formula One, Formula 2 and Formula 3 Championships, it offers an extensive Career Mode with long-term goals and seasonal targets. As you build up your team, you’ll manage drivers, staff, finances and car design – emphasizing performance or a more balanced approach.

This is in addition to features like a strategy editor for scheduling pit stops and pace, regulation changes that can suddenly emerge, a realistic presentation, and commentators like David Croft, Martin Brundle, and Karun Chandhok. F1 Manager 2022 is out on August 30^th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC.

And what of those new features? Well, most headline-grabbing is the introduction of fieldSENSE, a new gameplay system said to deliver consistent, ultra-realistic gameplay, equipping players in every position with a heightened sense of control. Detractors reckon fieldSENSE is simply gameplay mechanics that were removed from earlier entries that’re now repackaged and reintroduced. The question is, will Madden NFL 23 feel massively different to play compared with last year’s edition? Let’s take a closer look at some of these new features and see if we can gleam any insight before the game’s release on August 19^th.

FieldSENSE Offensive Line Overhauls

Madden NFL 23’s offensive game is said to have received a massive overhaul, with runners now able to slow their pace, immediately transfer weight or perform ultra-fluid 360-degree cuts for swift changes of direction, granting ball-carriers the freedom to penetrate any open gaps in the defensive line. The running game sounds like it’ll be a much more subtle affair as opposed to overreliance on speed or pure power.

FieldSENSE Defensive Line Overhauls

Like offense, Madden NFL 23’s defence receives an update too. In a development EA are defining as ‘Hit Everything’, defence now encompasses next-gen Hit-Stick physics, meaning you can perform mid-air knockouts, blow up blocks, force turnovers, and, in a feature not seen since Madden 16, perform physics-based gang tackles, whereby you can assist in a tackle already taking place. With Madden NFL 23’s upgraded offensive mechanics, a string of defensive updates that’ll encourage a tactical approach to halting zig-zagging ball-runners is certainly welcome.

Skill-based Passing

Possibly where the biggest change lies, Madden NFL 23’s all-new method of passing introduces a targeting reticule and passing meter to judge power, enabling quarterbacks to distribute with surgical accuracy, passing the ball to where only your wide receivers can catch it after combining the reticule and passing meter to lead receivers and drop in back-shoulder throws.

Wide Receiver vs Defensive Back Battles

A feature intended to compliment the new skills-based passing mechanic is Madden NFL 23’s focus on one-versus-one battles between wide receivers and defensive backs, with receivers able to execute moves to drop defenders and escape into space, whilst safeties and cornerbacks can press at the line slowing the receiver’s progress as the ball is snapped. Again, this extra tactical consideration should hopefully add an extra element of thought to every play.

Upgraded Contracts System

Franchise mode also gets an upgrade for Madden NFL 23. Authenticity is the name of the game here, with athletes motivated by salary and place of residence, in addition to the appeal of playing for your team, having a real-time effect on contract negotiations. EA Tiburon hopes increasing athlete determination to secure the best deal for themselves will add to the drama of NFL free agency.

Overhauled Bye Week Scenarios

Bye weeks are when your football team takes a week off to recover from the gruelling slog of an NFL season, and they’re yet another feature to receive an upgrade in the upcoming Madden NFL 23. In fact, EA Tiburon routinely update Madden’s franchise mode throughout the year, and the additions to bye week that’re announced for Madden NFL 23 so far came into effect in April. In short, there’re choices to make; should your team take a week off to re-establish relationships that have fractured during a tough season? Should the week be spent on the training field? Which aspects of the team need development? It’s up to you to decide what your team needs to drive success come the end of bye week.

X-Factor Abilities Return

The superstar skills that mirror their real-life counterparts returns for Madden NFL 23. The list of players who’re bestowed with an X-Factor ability has already been announced via the PS5 beta. However, there’s every chance more players will be added come the start of the NFL season in September. Superstars – that is, those who have skills that outperform their stats but aren’t quite X-Factor level – are set to continue too. New for Madden NFL 23 though, is the addition of X-Factor hot streaks. This means that one or more opponents will start a game with their X-Factor skill activated, adding to the challenge from the get-go.

Crossplay

At the time of writing, crossplay for Madden NFL 23 has not been officially announced. And, regrettably, it’s possible it won’t be implemented in time for the latest iteration of EA’s football sim before its release in August. EA are arguably the largest developer who’re still yet to harness the fruits of crossplay. If Apex Legends doesn’t have it, it’s likely Madden won’t either, although next-gen hardware was treated to a crossplay update in FIFA 22, so there is at least a shred of hope.

Create-A-Team Mode Still Missing

Unfortunately, create-a-team is not making a return in Madden 23, despite this being one of the most requested features from fans of the series. EA Tiburon claim they’re adapting feedback from previous iterations into Madden 23, so it’s befuddling the chance to customise your own team from a raft of randomised options or craft a fantasy franchise by handpicking NFL players.

Ultimate Team and Face of the Franchise Modes Return

Perhaps create-a-team is still left out on the sidelines due to EA’s Ultimate Team mode; the chance to develop your dream roster of current NFL players, hall-of-famers, and legends of the sport continues in Madden 23. Face of the Franchise is back too, offering players the chance to ‘play their way into the history books’ in control of their own player striving for NFL glory. The point with all these game modes is EA Tiburon recognise there’re many ways gamers will want to engage with Madden 23, whether that’s Ultimate Team, Face of the Franchise, multi-player, single player – aside from creating your own team, EA Tiburon are trying to cover all bases.

Rookie Ratings Starting to Emerge

One of the most exciting aspects of any new NFL season is seeing how the rookies fare. Ordinarily, EA announce rookie ratings during draft week, but this year they’ve remained largely tight-lipped. We are starting to see details come through in the last week, with new players sharing stories across their social media pages. Expect their ratings to be announced during EA’s rating week, set to commence on 18^th July.

Commitment to realism

Not only is the in-game franchise mode updating with more realistic aspects, from staff management to weekly scouting, but EA Tiburon are updating the dynamic gameday mechanics too. That is, home advantage will be more noticeable, athletes will mishear plays due to crowd noise, momentum and team confidence will shift play-by-play. Touchdown celebrations are said to be more intimate too, with 4K touchdown camera angles harnessing what EA Tiburon are calling ‘animation branching technology’.

Launching mid-preseason

Madden NFL 23 comes out on August 19^th, which is smack bang in the middle of the NFL 2022 preseason which runs from 5^th to the 28^th of August. This is in keeping of Madden’s of old, of course, ensuring players can get up to speed with the game’s updated mechanics in time for the NFL season to start for real on September 8^th.

All-Madden Edition

Alongside the boxed and digital standard editions of Madden NFL 23, there’s the All-Madden Edition up for pre-order with a host of higher tier bonuses, like 3-day early access, choice of two elite players, 4600 Madden points, all Madden gear and strategy items. There’s a premium price tag to go alongside the All-Madden Edition, of course, but at the time of writing there’s still a week or so for an extra pre-order bonus of an All-Madden Team Elite Player.

John Madden is Coverstar

This year, the cover star for Madden NFL 23 is the legend John Madden himself. Eschewing the usual trope of the ‘Madden’ curse, for cover stars of previous iterations have mysteriously gone on to have lacklustre seasons. Instead, John Madden being on this year’s cover is a fitting tribute to the iconic coach and commentator – and namesake of the series – after his untimely passing last December.

In a nutshell, it seems like the game is looking to offer players much greater flexibility and freedom in how they want to build and improve their teams. That includes improvements several areas. For starters, as part of a new system focused on player motivations, multiple factors will now determine whether a player wants to sign with a team, from its chances of making the Super Bowl to its location or its roster.

Another new system is Player Tags, which will directly impact Free Agent logic, trade logic, draft logic, and more, with Tags affecting players’ personality, how much they’re wanted by other teams, or whether they get bonus XP. Then there’s the new Free Agent Hub, which is exactly what it sounds like, and also finally lets players place offers without having to advance the week.

There are multiple other improvements in other areas, including scouting parameters, an overhaul of Draft Classes, more streamlined contract negotiations, a new and improved UI, and more. You can get all the details in the deep dive video down below.

Madden NFL 23 launches on August 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

The big feature behind FieldSENSE is new technology allowing for branching animations. With FieldSENSE, the trailer breaks down Madden NFL 23‘s gameplay into 4 new features: Hit Everything, Skill-Based Passing, 360 Cuts, and Wide Receiver vs Double Back Battles.

Hit Everything essentially allows players to literally hit anyone and anything in the game. Regardless of whether another player is involved in the tackling, Hit Everything will now allow players to join in on tackle piles.

Skill-Based Passing is an improvement over previous Madden NFL games’ passing mechanics. Along with picking targets to pass to, Skill-Based Passing now also allows players to aim exactly where the ball will end up, with the exact amount of power they want.

360 Cuts will now allow players to quickly change their direction in a more realistic manner. Rather than locking players into the direction they start sprinting in, with 360 Cuts, players can now make sharp turns to avoid the other team.

Wide Receiver vs Double Back Battles is essentially an entire suite of new moves for both positions. The battles now focus on the 1-on-1 battles off the line that Wide Receivers and Double Backs often find themselves in off the line.

Madden NFL 23 was unveiled alongside a trailer last week. It is set to launch on August 19 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and Xbox One. The new FieldSENSE features will only be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.