Gridiron Notes: Madden NFL 20 Title Update - December.

NatureBoy2323 · December 11, 2019 4:27PM

To ensure Madden is the best game possible, scheduled updates are deployed by the Madden Development Team to add features to the game after launch and to tune gameplay based on community feedback.

Our launch updates focus on many of the issues that Madden players report to us. We thank you for your feedback - you've helped us improve Madden NFL 20. We look forward to further feedback and are committed to continuing to meet your expectations.

Here is a detailed breakdown of what’s included in today's title update:

Key Highlights

NFL Live Playbooks

Alternate versions of every offensive and defensive playbook for each NFL team have been added as playbook options in Play Now and Franchise.

In addition to the new plays and formations these playbooks introduce, these books will also be used to update playbook content throughout the rest of the Madden NFL 20 season. These alternate playbooks are updated versions of each teams’ scheme that closely mimic the plays they’ve been running so far in the NFL season.

To access these playbooks, toggle on the ‘NFL Live Playbooks’ option in the Game Options settings from the main menu or via the Advanced Settings option in the Team Select screen. The Advanced Settings option in Team Select is how Franchise players will be able to access the alternate playbooks.

The NFL Live Playbooks will NOT be available for use inside of Custom Playbooks but will instead function like the ‘generic’ playbooks and the alternate playbooks will also NOT be supported by Formation Subs inside of Franchise mode. More details about some of the new playbook content can be found below in the ‘Gameplay’ section of the notes.

New X-Factor Players:
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, replacing Chargers QB Philip Rivers
X-Factor: First One Free
Superstar Abilities: Escape Artist, Juke Box, Fast Break

49ers DE Nick Bosa, replacing Rams RB Todd Gurley
X-Factor: Unstoppable Force
Superstar Abilities: Strip Specialist, Finesse Specialist

Jets SS Jamal Adams, replacing Cowboys CB Byron Jones
X-Factor: Reinforcement
Superstar Abilities: Enforcer, Under Pressure

Patriots FS Devin McCourty, replacing Bears FS Eddie Jackson
X-Factor: Zone Hawk
Superstar Abilities: Lumberjack, Pick Artist

Cardinals OLB Chandler Jones, replacing Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott
X-Factor: Fearmonger
Superstar Abilities: Reach Elite, Edge Threat Elite

Updated Jaguars DE Calais Campbell
Replaced Reach Tackle with Inside Stuff

Updated Superstar Players:

Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin
Route Technician

Vikings DE Everson Griffen
Power Specialist

Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey
Man Up

Ravens LT Ronnie Stanley
Secure Protector

Saints RT Ryan Ramcyzk
Secure Protector

Vikings WR Stefon Diggs
Cross Specialist, Post-Flag Specialist

Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette
Bulldozer

49ers DE Dee Ford
Edge Threat

Cowboys CB Byron Jones, downgraded from X-Factor to Superstar
Acrobat

Eagles TE Zach Ertz, downgraded from X-Factor to Superstar
In-Out Elite

Chargers QB Philip Rivers, downgraded from X-Factor to Superstar
Pocket Lead, Arching Deadeye

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott, downgraded from X-Factor to Superstar
Inside Zone Guru

Bears FS Eddie Jackson, downgraded from X-Factor to Superstar
Zoned Out

Downgraded Superstar & X-Factor players, no longer equipped with any abilities:

Colts MLB Darius Leonard
Chargers RB Melvin Gordon, III
Jets MLB CJ Mosley
Redskins SS Landon Collins
Falcons FS Keanu Neal
Rams RB Todd Gurley
Browns DE Myles Garrett

DEV NOTE: Superstar X-Factor reshuffling is part of our ongoing continuous development plan to keep the rosters and players as up to date as possible with the events of the NFL season. These updates will apply to Front End rosters for Online head-to-head games, exhibition and new Franchise leagues created with the ‘Custom Roster’ option.

The re-shuffles will NOT impact existing Franchise leagues, as those leagues are already in progress with their own performance progression/regression and will not apply to new Franchise leagues created with the ‘Pre-Season Roster’ option.

Global Updates
General stability and connectivity improvements
NFL Player Likeness Updates:

Panthers WR Chris Hogan
Panthers MLB Shaq Thompson
Panthers RG Trai Turner
Panthers FS Tre Boston
Panthers TE Ian Thomas

Added Chiefs alternate helmet with grey facemask
Updated the chin strap on the Xenith Shadow helmet to white instead of team color
Updated stadium clocks in Packers stadium

Franchise Updates
DEV NOTE: As mentioned above, Superstar X-Factor reshuffling is also a part of Franchise’s continuous development plan to keep the rosters and players as up to date as possible with the events of the NFL season.

The ability to update abilities for existing Franchise leagues is something that the team is committed to but has caused some recent stability issues. In order to keep the servers stable and maintain the integrity of existing leagues, some abilities will not directly map between Franchise and other modes. Some Franchise & QB1 Mode examples are:

The ‘Omaha’ ability is currently using the Ultimate Team trigger conditions rather than the Franchise triggers

The QB version of ‘First One Free’ will have slightly different zone conditions in Franchise

The following ability changes only apply to new offline and online leagues:

TY Hilton will have his Superstar X-Factor ability 'Rac Em Up' & the correct Development trait

Superstar X-Factor Keenan Allen has the ability 'Rac Em Up'

Fixed an issue where coach users would sign a player to an extension, then go into edit player (even if the user didn’t edit the player) the contract would change current year’s contract.

Fixed an issue in Cloud and Offline leagues where changes to Edit Coach appearance were not being saved

Gameplay Updates
Playbooks Updates:
NFL Live Playbook Highlights:

New formations: Defensive 4-3 Even, 6-1, 46 Cub, Dime Sugar 3-2, Dime Sugar Weak; Offensive Heisman package

Inverted Veer changed to ‘Power Read’

Updated play-calling AI for Ravens playbook to call more QB option run plays

Defensive formations added to NFL Live playbooks for Bears, Dolphins, Lions, Patriots, Rams, Jets, Chiefs, Jaguars, Jets, Patriots, Saints, Lions, Vikings, Packers, Ravens

Offensive formations added to NFL Live Playbooks for Ravens, 49ers, Rams, Bears, Seahawks, Jets, Chargers, Spread.

Fixed an issue causing misaligned players when using the Nickel Triple formation vs. Shotgun Taysom Hill Package.

Fixed an issue causing missing play art with base align/flip on some Nickel 3-3-5 plays

Tuning to prevent user-controlled defenders from triggering fake-out animations vs. ball-carrier special moves (Juke, Spin, Hurdle) regardless of ratings match-up on Competitive game-style only. This applies vs. all ball carriers, including those holding X-Factor and Superstar abilities.

Fixed an issue causing the offense to get put into random formations when using hurry-up in MUT Squads

Ultimate Team Updates

DEV NOTE: NFL Live playbooks will not yet be offered in Ultimate Team. We will make them available in the near future once every playbook has been populated with enough content to offer the maximum amount of value to our players.

https://www.ea.com/games/madden-nfl/madden-nfl-20/news/gridiron-notes-title-update-december-12-11

Jeremiah757 · December 11, 2019 7:38PM

When are we going to be able to choose our X factors in CFM. I have a field general QB with 60 spd and y’all gVe him “first one free” X factor and I don’t even run with my QB and I have no type of passing superstar abilities. This makes him useless.

Jeremiah757 · December 11, 2019 7:41PM

Overall in madden we starting to see more and more players not jumping on INTERCEPTIONS. Most madden players also HATER the animation where as soon as the AB throws ball I already know if if it’s going to be a catch because my CB or SS trailing him get locked in some weird animation where he doesn’t do anything but get jumped over.

Jeremiah757 · December 11, 2019 7:44PM

We also still seeing a lot of broken tackles after a catch. I get it if a wr breaks the first one on the catch but the second and third tackle is not even register. It’s like they didn’t even touch him and the wr still able to run at full speed

Jeremiah757 · December 11, 2019 7:46PM

In CFM we still can’t get offensive lineman superstar abilities or X factors. My entire O lineman was in the top five best lineman in the AFC and was all stars and didn’t get upgraded. I thought this was fixed. The highest we can go is star unless it was previous player that was already in the game. But they old now

gogiants98_1 · December 11, 2019 9:05PM

Are you not able to add the new formations/plays to custom playbooks or build off of the "live" playbooks? Went to update my defensive custom playbook and didn't see any of the new formations in either capacity

pocketlint95 · December 11, 2019 9:37PM

Is there anyway we can get a player likeness update for my boy, Danny Amendola? That face they have for him now looks awful. Man had the most TD catches in Super Bowl history!

HalfBlack24 · December 12, 2019 2:58AM

Hey madden since the update, in my online CFM the game does not count the downs played for my hidden trait players. Also the game does not show my abilities or player dev traits like superstar even though I have completed the scenarios and it has told me my player has developed after the game. Kinda bummed my players are not progressing

ericedub · December 12, 2019 4:49AM

So more window dressing by EA instead of fixing core game play issues smh. It's now December and psychic DB's in man and zone coverage have not been fixed. It was supposed to be fixed in the last November update but of course it didn't work. And why hasn't the issue of DB's LB's running around on turbo speed never getting tired or having to stop or slow down to change direction yet to be addressed?

Toothless010 · December 12, 2019 6:40AM

It is now 10 weeks that at the end of the Franchise game, I have to manually close the Madden 20 window. I can not progress to upgrade the listed players after a game, and both keyboard and controller do no function. Relaunching Madden 20 should NOT be my option to continue. Only after your early Oct update did this issue start in franchise mode.

JayChitown · December 12, 2019 8:59AM

I have already seen enough new Glitches. I have dudes blocking with there backs turned. The DB glitch is ridiculous. No way I ovwr throw balls and the computer knows where it's going. Did the Madden team realize it's the 100 year anniversary for the NFL before that made this game? 50 years of NFL tape and it looks like they sat in a room and created what ever they wanted. You think people really wanna play this on PS5? If they do they stupid. The last 3 years are worst. 20 has the most glitches and everytime its updated it gets worst. Naw son I'm good. I deleted this game again. Not a NFL game. It should be called TIBURON Football 20. Ratings are wrong as ever. Example. ANDY DALTON HAS A 74, BAKER MAYFIELD A 78. NEITHER ONE HAS OUT PLAYED TRUBISKY STATS WISE. I looked at both there stats. Dalton is trash. Mayfield has 15 tds and 14 ints and has a 78. Trubisky has 16 tds and 8 ints. Yards difference is 200 between Baker and Mitch. Madden has Baker ahead by 6 points. Where they get they stats from? Mine came from NFL.com. I will not be disrespected again by EA TIBURON. They are literally wasting MY MONEY and More importantly my time.

jb510 · December 12, 2019 5:18PM

i just got a update version 1.21 does anyone know what it fixed or did??

Topgamer87 · December 12, 2019 5:38PM

Live Playbook idea: A-
Execution: F
The plays weren’t added to create a playbook? Can’t use formation subs in Franchise?

SimEurocat · December 14, 2019 12:51AM

I'm absolutely bummed here. Something was done with this update that was dropped two days ago that severely impacted game overall performance. My game ran smooth as silk before the update and now I have micro-stutters galore. My GPU is now overloaded and I can't record game play because of it. Nothing else changed in my system. I tested this out against both Madden 19 and Madden 08 and both perform the way they should and can be recorded without the micro-stuttering affect. I can't do that with Madden 20, which means this game is absolutely useless to me if I can't record it, cleanly. Please fix this!!!!

Jmmack10 · December 19, 2019 11:02PM

So the BIG new LIVE playbooks we only get 3 NEW formations and that’s it see what drives me crazy about all of this is the RAVENS offense doesn’t need you guys to crest NEW formations that are not in the game like no one wants heisman formation with 2 QBs people just want the actual formations that are already in the game that are in playbooks like the cardinals and pistol and panthers that should be in the ravens and I have sent videos and tweeted videos to EA members like kraelo and farlz and Gibbs jake stein and Clint showing proof that the ravens run these formations let along someone from Ea Has to watch the ravens there the funnest team in the NFL to watch but for instance Carolina doesn’t have cam anymore and there new qb is a pocket qb so the whole offense they normally run they have not run all year so all the heavy panther and ace slot and read options or inverted stuff was thrown out the window now the ravens actually run heavy panther but it’s called heavy raven and multiple times in big games in crucial situations like 4 and goal or in a lot of short yardage situations they run the same EXACT formation HEAVY RAVEN with QB POWER QB BLAST OR QB WRAP they use it more then any other formation that they don’t have in there playbook so you would think they would add heavy raven to live playbooks but NOPE they add a HEISMAN formation that I have seen them run like 2 times in blow outs with 2 QBs now how is a qb going to block for a run play or go out and run a route for a pass makes no sense not to mention the Arizona cardinals have every good pistol formation the ravens don’t have PISTOL ACE PISTOL DOUBLE Y OFF STRONG SLOT OPEN TRIPS LEFT OPEN Y OFF TRIPS the ravens have EVERY PISTOL FORMATION IN THERE PLAYBOOK AND THEY USE JUST ABOUT ALL OF THEM EVERY GAME do you think any of those formations were added NOOOOOOO ALONG WITH PISTOL ACE SLOT ACE U OFF BUNCH TE DOUBLES FULL HOUSE OPEN FLEX TIGHT SLOTS TRIPS U DEEP SLOT WEAK SLOT FLEX WING Y TRIPS and not a single one of those formations were added to the ravens and that’s just PISTOL SHOT GUN AND SINGLEBACK are just as bad now the only thing that really need to be fixed for singleback is deuce close needs stretch and wing tight u needs to be added for i form slot flex hb stretch bubble WHY THEY HAVE ALL THESE RUN FORMATIONS BUT NOT STRETCH OR STRETCH RPOS I DONT UNDERSTAND THERE THE NUMBER ONE RUSHING OFFENSE IN THE NFL THEY RUN DIVE STRETCH QB BLAST POWER WRAPS READ OPTIONS TRIPLE OPTIONS POWER OPTIONS SPEED OPTIONS more then any team in the nfl and to be honest they have all these toss plays I have never seen them run toss one time this year now back to I form I form wing STRETCH they don’t have strong stretch or stretch x lookie and they really should have both Along with weak iso and fb fake hb flip I form strong wing for some odd reason there is no stretch or stretch RPO out of strong wing to strong wing needs to go and strong H wing should be added and power i strong is cool but once again there is no stretch or RPOS out of it so either that can go or add a stretch or stretch RPO they don’t run this formation a lot now for SHOT GUN first off they should have every single QB POWER BLAST OR WRAP IN MADDEN so GUN ACE SLOT FROM PANTHERS BOOK SHOULD BE ADDED and the GUN DOUBLES FAKE JET PASS POWER that’s in multiple playbooks but not in ravens they do have the formation but no the actual play they have all the other plays that incorporate with it zone fake jet pa jet sweep jet pass fk zone but not the QB POWER how does that make sense then like
I said if there is ONE FORMATION THAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE IN THERE BOOK ITS GUN HEAVY PANTHER NEEDS TO BE SWITCHED FROM CAROLINA TO RAVENS AND RENAMED HEAVY RAVEN then Gun deuce close is a great formation and they use it a lot but you guys need to add better plays there is not a single play in GUN DEUCE CLOSE THAT HAS A POST ROUTE IN IT you took tons of short plays from tight slots and tight slots wk and put them in gun deuce close but none of that actual good plays like four verts post wheel drag mesh spot bench X out flood all are concepts that could have been added to GUN DEUCE CLOSE even stuff from TIGHT FLEX LIKE MESH SPOT WHEEL PA POST SHOT DOUBLE SPOT INSIDE HI LO CROSS SLOT CURL once again all those could have been incorporated into GUN DEUCE CLOSE IN SOME WAY the 2 best plays it has you didn’t even put in the ravens book PA SLIDE and bench x dig those need to be added but if your not going to add plays to deuce close they need a GUN TIGHT FORMATION I watch them run versions of GUN TIGHT FLEX GUN TIGHT SLOTS OR GUN TIGHT SLOTS HB WK all the time so one of those can be added then the ravens really run GUN BUNCH HB STRONG but atleast add post cross to there gun bunch or cross or clear out fl in something there bunch is bad MONSTER STACK IS NOT USED BY THE RAVENS AND NEVER WILL BE TAKE IT OUT and last GUN EMPTY TRIPS TE only the cowboys have it the ravens run this ALOT needs to be added see all these changes are the REAL changes that need to be made not creating new formations and plays now do the ravens have plays that are not in madden of course I would love to see qb wraps powers and blast out of full house and gun split but then atleast getting the formations they run most with the qb running plays that are in the game I’m sure the ravens fans and I am okay with it’s the fact that have there book isn’t right or is missing or one team or multiple teams have but they don’t obviously I know all playbooks have limits and ravens offense next to cheifs And pats is probably the biggest and best in the nfl in all reality Carolina Arizona Seattle pistol run n gun west coast and cowboys together plus some is more like the ravens real offense but the bottom line is there are to many formations they use every game that they don’t have and I honestly understand you guys are so busy and the normal playbooks have not been able to be changed up until this year but what I don’t understand is custom playbooks are in other modes why can’t we just add custom playbooks instead of people like me writing constantly and **** about this book and that book and hoping someone reads this and actually fixes this which probably won’t ever happen and if it does it’s half way through the year if we had custom playbooks even if it was only 35-50 plays per player would be SO MUCH better then this then players have the option to use normal playbooks live playbooks there own playbooks or create there own version of the real life playbook it wouldn’t mess anything up in the game I just don’t get it NBA 2k let you create your own court and jerseys and playbooks why we can’t create our own playbooks one MADDEN ULTIMATE TEAM I DONT GET. Everyone uses the same books EVERY YEAR for the most part on offense and defense but if people could put there own playbooks together they would be using there’s for sure and then you don’t have people complaining all the time like for instant the whole tatsum hill update that you guys did people could of just added a qb blast to there own book we really need to consider this every play has a counter and can be stopped so if I want to have a book with all the good plays why does it matter I’m going to play against a player that has all the meta defenses that the offense can’t block EVERY YEAR I have plenty of ravens video with formations let me know if someone actually reads this and wants proof but anyone working on playbooks one EA the ravens book should be the highest priority on your list for live playbooks so I really hope someone reads this and does something I won’t even use the book because of this the cardinals playbook and Carolina is more ravens and better then the ravens itself

Jmmack10 · December 19, 2019 11:15PM

All I do is work watch football either live or watch film and play madden so I know the madden crew is very busy and I know that the playbooks have people that work on them constantly but you guys really need someone from the community working for you guys like me who has more knowledge then most that has time to listen to players and can consult with the dev team I would work for free for EA just to have the playbooks actually accurate your a billion dollar corporation There’s really no excuse like for instance this is my 10th time writing about the ravens offense alone just on here and twitter just about every other day and not one time have I been answered or acknowledged that anyone has even seen anything I wrote and is working on it or has seen it and just doesn’t care but you guys really need someone to communicate on so many different levels with the community like playbooks legends programs ETC reading 1 or 2 questions of a screen while doing a daily 15 min broadcast is not enough and making poor kraelo the only guy who does communicate and him only answering so much because he only sees so much being one person he probably gets 100 thousand tweets a day how is he going to answer all those by himself jake stein billy schautz and Clint odenburg are all part of the team and I’m sure are all so busy year round and none of them answer anyone and I get it they don’t have time but putting it on one guy is ridiculous you know how many people would work for pennies just to be apart of madden yet every year it’s the same thing one person and a broadcast cute

Jmmack10 · December 19, 2019 11:30PM

Or another instance like the whole server crash thing now I’m sure you guys rushed it out to get it out to us becuase everyone likes to **** which of you guys did rush it out for us that’s awsome but then there’s a huge bug in it that messes a TON of stuff up now everyone is tweaking blaming EA blah blah blah in all reality it’s no ones fault stuff happens we wanted content you guys got it to us early and because of that it was checked thoroughly enough or whatever the case is but the ridiculous part of it all is for someone Iike me I only play squads solos and house rules I don’t have enough time for solo battles anymore and squads is better then weekend league so the easiest reward for everyone would of been a free nfl random NAT now nfl 100 players are the best in the game at the moment and a lot of people buy coins or rip packs and get them anyways which I have a ton but you guys do double rewards on modes 1000s of people don’t play why? To make people earn it? Should we have to earn it? no is it really EAs fault either NO But the way madden works the nfl 100 is the best right now for another month or so then those cards are nothing they all get upgrades so would it of really hurt you guys to do something like that? Absolutely not would it have affected pack sales NO or coin sales NO would you guys have lost mone NO because it’s one PLAYER I just don’t get that a billion dollar company WHOS fans are so loyal to you year in and year out that spend so much money on the game me being one of them or grinders that put SO much of there time into your game and yes they **** ALOT but they always come back would it have really hurt you to give out 1 94 OVR player to everyone that’s only useful for the next month or so? Of course not why we don’t do stuff like that I don’t understand instead you have 1000s like myself that don’t get anything because they don’t have time or just don’t play the modes in general but we’re affected when the content dropped it’s just funny even if they were 99 OVRs there’s always something better that comes out either a better 99 of the same player or a player on your favorite team or a legend or your favorite player in general and there are 50 something players on each persons roster so would it really have hurt to give out a free 94 or even a free legend or anything along those lines? Of course not and I guarantee you would of had a lot less people **** getting a free nfl 100 then double rewards cuz the only people that are happy about double rewards are the ones that are top 25 EVERY WEEK instead if you granted a free player to everyone the playing field is level for EVERYONE. EVERYONE WAS AFFECTED THE SAME SO WHY CANT WE GET REWARDED THE SAME even a 93-94 power up pass for everyone is better then double rewards and you guys have done a better job this year giving good players through solos and rewards and stuff but on screw ups like that even though it’s no ones fault situations like that really need to be handled differently

Strega8188 · December 21, 2019 10:48PM

HolyCross30 wrote: »

Can you please add the powder blue pants for the Classic Houston Oilers away uniforms. This way you can do all white or blue pants like they had.

AceMachineGun89 · December 22, 2019 12:54PM

Can we please go back to the zoomed in cam angle behind the defense for created defensive players in CFM

Moseley825 · December 23, 2019 2:40AM

Can the 49ers get some player likeness updates! One of the better teams in the league and only got 1 likeness update(Nick Bosa) this year. Dee Bo/Fred Warner/Arik Armstead. Com'On Man

woodkiller3265 · December 25, 2019 3:17AM

Are you kidding me? Last year, you guys updated at least 10-15 players likeness every month: highly rated rookies, trending stars on the field, and high overall players at every position. Now you are just doing 5 players and all from the same team? What about players like:
Aaron Jones GB
Austin Ekeler LAC
Chris Carson SEA
James White NE
Matt Breida SF
Joe Mixon CIN
Andy Janovich DEN
Terry McLaurin WAS
John Brown BUF
Darius Slayton NYG
Delanie Walker TEN
Danielle Hunter MIN
Arik Armstead SF
Jurrell Casey TEN
Chris Jones KC
Trey Flowers DET
Frank Clark KC
Justin Houston IND
Fletcher Cox PHI
Grady Jarrett ATL
Darius Leonard IND
Eric Kendricks MIN
Demario Davis NO
Alexander Johnson DEN
Shaquil Barrett TB
Za'Darius Smith GB
Marcus Peters BAL
Casey Hayward Jr. LAC
William Jackson CIN
Logan Ryan TEN
Quinton Dunbar WAS
Earl Thomas III BAL
Kevin Byard TEN
Micah Hyde BUF
Justin Simmons DEN
Anthony Harris MIN
Adrian Amos Jr. GB
Landon Collins WAS
Kareem Jackson DEN
Robbie Gould SF
Will Lutz NO
Johnny Hekker LAR
Michael Dickson SEA, and many more!! Shoot, give some love to the offensive lineman rated in the high 80's and 90's... Myself and many others, hate waiting so damn long for these updates, PLEASE fix.

Gridiron Notes: Madden NFL 20 Title Update - December.

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