“Need it to break” - NFL fans root against Madden 24 as EA faces “make or break” moment for franchise

With the 2022 season now wrapped, Madden 23 has reached middle age. Madden 24 is set to be released in six months, and fans are hoping that long-standing issues will be addressed. EA is also reportedly hoping that the game will be significantly improved over its current iteration.

According to Insider Gaming via Daily Snark and JPAFootball on Twitter, the 35-year-old franchise is at a crossroads. Allegedly, either the game will be released in a state that pleases fans at a much higher level, or a lot of changes among the "game's leadership" will be taking place. NFL fans are eagerly hoping for the game to fail. Here's a look at what fans said in response in droves:

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According to Metacritic, the franchise has seen a steady decline in review scores since Madden 20. The game on Playstation 4 earned a rating of 76, which while not amazing, critics saw the game as passable, bordering on good. However, starting with Madden 21, the franchise slipped into the 60s.

21, 22, and 23 all failed to cross the 70-mark according to critics. 21 served as the low point for the franchise in terms of ratings over the period, earning a 63 average score. 22 saw it jump to 68 on PlayStation 5 and 23 earned a 69 overall score. While a gradual improvement in quality has been acknowledged in recent years, the franchise still falls far short of how it was rated in 2020.

Of course, in terms of user score, the game is rated as one of the worst around. Based on the user score average, the game earned a 1.4 for its 2020 iteration. Agreeing with critics, fans dropped Madden 21's score significantly. It earned a measly 0.3 out of ten. 22 saw a small bump to 0.6 and 23 saw a jump to 1.4.

That said, most agree that the user score is largely bombed by a vocal minority and isn't truly indicative of how the majority of people feel about the game. Meaning, while a large part of the user base isn't thrilled with the game and would like to see more features, most agree it is far from unplayable in the way many other similarly reviewed games are.

Either way, EA has a lot of work ahead of themselves to attempt to win over the vocal minority deadset on instigating change.