EA Sports has been pushing the boundary on their football games after the extremely successful launch of EA Sports College Football 25 (CFB). The learning shared across both the EA Sports Madden NFL and CFB teams is already demonstrating the importance of pushing each other. For CFB, the pageantry has evolved, and physics-based play has taken the spotlight. For Madden NFL 26 (Madden 26), the game is faster, and the investment in Franchise mode is substantial.
We spoke with Josh Looman, Madden 26′s principal designer, at the media preview event about the steps forward Madden’s franchise has taken. And, of course, we had to ask about how Wear and Tear, a system introduced in CFB 25, coming to Madden 26 will affect Franchise Mode, as well as the comparisons between Madden and its college counterpart.
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Josh Looman started, “I think it was being mindful of the length of the season and the size of the rosters and the differences between the two games, and then for us, it was also important to give our fans the tools to be able to manage Wear and Tear. Adding in trainer abilities, not just coach abilities, but trainer abilities that allow you to have players recover faster, come back from injuries faster, and take less of a chance of even getting injured in a game, and reducing the chance with those trainer abilities [stands out].”
The addition of trainer abilities takes advantage of the systems built into the real-life NFL, and ultimately separates the kinds of injuries players can face, and their rehabilitation after from College Football. Capturing those true-to-life differences showcases that the two development teams at EA Sports are drawing inspiration from each other, but always honoring their sport, and all that that brings with it.
Wear and Tear comes to Madden 26, but it’s not the same as you’ve seen before.
He continued, “Having the ability when you’re doing weekly training, to individually go in for every single player and choose whether you want them to rest or be in full pads, or having control over everybody instead of just groups [is what sets us apart]. Now, we still wanted to give you guys the tools to be able to say wear and tear is authentic. And it’s something that NFL teams have to deal with, but I want to be able to control it as much as possible.”
While we started looking at the similarities, it’s worth noting that Madden 26 marks the most significant update to Franchise Mode in a decade. With more investment in your coach, opposing coaches, and managing your players, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So, we had to ask Looman: Why now?
“Last year, I feel like we made a lot of improvements,” Looman started, “It was a big jump. This year, we came in and said, ‘Let’s do even more.’ And that’s sort of our [motto] and how I’m hoping that’s how we approach things moving forward.”
But making something larger, better, and with more depth also means that balancing has to come into play. “We’ve spent a lot of time on [balance] and [have] gotten a lot of feedback. I think it is a balance between how many abilities you start off with, and making sure that they all feel meaningful, and making sure that when you’re setting up your game plan every week that you can make those [ability-based] choices—and that you’re not having to scroll through 100 abilities at a time,” Josh Looman said.
Keeping Madden 26’s Coaching systems balanced was a cornerstone in development.
Menu fatigue is something that has been a common element across EA Sports games, and it’s clear the team has taken that into account without sacrificing skill depth. Looman continued, “Just being mindful of that, and really it comes down to balance, tuning, and making sure that no matter who you choose as a coach—whether it’s Dan Campbell, Andy Reed, or your create-a-coach—that it never feels overwhelming.”
That balance also inherently creates more player agency in choosing their path as a coach. Where this shines the brightest from our time with the game is when it comes to expanding Opposing Coach DNA. As you level up your abilities as a coach and set your loadout for a weekly game plan, the coaches you play against are also setting their playsheet to go precisely against you.
The Opposing Coach DNA is built on Real-Time Coaching AI, which has been trained on years of real-world NFL data, ensuring that the coach you’re playing against will exhibit the tendencies they would in a real game. I mean, if Dan Campbell didn’t go for it on fourth down, did you really go against him?
That means that while you are planning for your next game, after reading the reports on how they play, your Opposing Coach is doing the same for you, throwing Madden’s coaching into a chess match of sorts. Madden 26 isn’t just about playing on the field; it’s also about playing off the field.
“Immersion is a big deal for us, and making [players] feel like you’re part of this league, like the real NFL is important.”
When asked about the importance of this increased focus on the opposing team as much as your own, Looman said, “I mean, it’s part of the NFL, right? When coaches face off against each other, everybody works all week on a game plan, tries to figure out what they can do to exploit weaknesses or strengthen areas of their team. The other coach is doing the same thing.”
He continued, “[They’re] facing off and figuring out the chess match as they go into the game, and how that’s going to impact the plays you call and how the game is going to turn out. We felt like that was a really important part, and not just a user-facing feature where you just pick some stuff and the other coach does what they always do.”
That authenticity to the off-the-field gameplay continues with the importance that Madden 26 is putting on weekly recaps. Something I know many CFB fans would be excited for. In Madden 26, the Red Zone voice we all know and love (and who retired last year), Scott Hansen, is providing voice over for weekly recaps that don’t just play a pre-made reel, but rather capture highlights from the games you and others played, including CPUs and users. Allowing players to have their Sunday experience come into full view.
“[Weekly recaps] were really important. Talked about this a lot last year, but immersion is a big deal for us, and making [players] feel like you’re part of this league, like the real NFL, [is important]. If the Chiefs and Bengals are playing a game this week and both are controlled by CPU [coaches], you still get to see what’s happening in the NFL. Like, it’s not my favorite team, but I can see those highlights, and just being able to show what happened in those games, being able to give you that visual idea of what’s going on around your league was really important for us,” the Principal Designer said.
Madden 26 is trying its best to keep players invested in Franchise Mode from Year 1 to Year 20.
Still, no one wants to play Franchise Mode for just one year, and in Madden 26, they’ve invested time to make the game still feel fresh, whether you’re in Year 1 or Year 20. Looman elaborated on building longevity into “It always comes back to that coaching meta game and making sure that that’s built in a way that you can level up, earn XP, unlock more abilities down the road, and that you can upgrade those abilities. You know, there’s a balance there, because you can’t just hoard them all and unlock everything. [Once you have them all], then you’re bored, and you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m done. I don’t need anything else.'”
He continued, “So, if you don’t use abilities, or if you don’t actually implement them in your game plan, then over time, you can lose them. It was just trying to balance the gameplay of ‘what am I picking every single week, and what matters to me as a coach.'”
“I think five years into the game, 10 years into the game, you’re still going to be unlocking stuff along the way and still upgrading things. This will help you remain mindful of what you’re using and what you’re not. Plus, all the other coaches in the league, and all the coordinators, they’ll all have their own skills, and they’ll be progressing along the way, too,” Looman said.
After my time with Josh Looman and with Madden 26, one thing is for sure: this isn’t the same game you played in 2024. With a substantial investment put into Franchise Mode, this is a good time for people to pick the title back up, or even pick it up for the first time. If the two football games keep pushing each other, it’s the players who are going to win.
EA Sports Madden NFL 26 releases on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 August 14, 2025.
