Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest Update Details

Welcome back for another edition of Gridiron Notes. Today, we will be sharing an update to the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest and what known issues you may see in today’s new build update.

The playtest will be a first chance for certain members of the community to get hands-on experience with the most dynamic Madden experience ever—all powered by real-world data. Our goal is to collect feedback as early as possible and continuously update Madden NFL 22, to be the best game possible for our players.

What is included in the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest

Here is everything you can try out in the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest: 

• Superstar KO (Part of the Week 2 Build Update)
• The Yard (Part of the Week 2 Build Update)
• Play Now
• Completely new and improved Franchise
• Madden Ultimate Team
  • Strategy Cards
  • Solo Battles
  • Weekend League
  • Squads

Rules about the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest

When participating in the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest, participation is subject to the Madden NFL 22 Pre-Release Feedback Agreement in-game. Please refrain from recording, streaming, and/or capture of any portion of the Playtest content. Doing so will result in removal from the Playtest as well as complete bans on all Madden NFL accounts.

Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest Known Issues

Here is a rundown on known issues throughout the Community Playtest. We’re working to improve these issues in the coming months, so participants can have the best gaming experience at Madden NFL 22 worldwide launch. 

Known Issues with Matchmaking

• Some players experience a crash when finding a match. Their opponent’s matchmaking attempt will fail back to the main menu.

Known Issues around Avatar & Shared Progression

• Dev Note: We have introduced an all-new Player Class feature for Madden NFL 22. We are excited for participants to experience this feature and the player progression aspects associated with it. Currently, our teams are still working to address some issues with the feature that could impact the progression experience around Player Classes. For example, participants may not feel their character is progressing in a meaningful way. We would appreciate participants playing with the Player Class feature and providing feedback on their experience(s) on the Madden Voice website.
• We are experiencing intermittent access issues with our Global Profile. If you’re unable to access it, try entering a mode and exiting; Functionality should resume.
• Occasionally the player wallet information becomes invisible after finishing a game. To get this info back, please access the global profile.

Known Issues in The Yard

• Progression System
  • Some users will see empty or incorrect progression End Game Flow including incorrect icons
  • Some users in squads game will see incorrect accrual of progression (either zero or another player's progression)
  • Some users may see empty or incorrect reward icons after a game

• Visual Artifacts
  • Users will see only their avatar on a player lineup screen while matching
  • Users will see temporary player icons during their Yard draft

• Gameplay Issues
  • While M-Factors are active in the Yard, the Momentum meter does not display
  • Picking non-QB positions in single-player Yard games can occasionally cause a loss of player control on defense

Known issues in SSKO

• Some corrupt UI may be seen on post-game screens
• Some subtitle text for NFL team choices has not been written
• In NFL H2H games, the jumbotrons and ribbon boards appear to be from Ultimate Team
• While M-Factors are present in NFL H2H games, the Momentum meter does not display

Known Issues in Franchise

• Weekly Strategy
  • There will be no data on some of the focuses (passing) art
  • The G/T will be flipped on Inside/Outside run focus art
  • The wrong Top Threat players will show up for the Offensive gameplan Focuses (i.e. a running back showing up for “Contain QB Scramble”)
  • Bye Weeks will show empty data
  • The player order within the Manage health screens are not the correct depth chart order
  • Fatigue bar levels will be flipped on Off/Def Focuse
  • After completing weekly Training, you will be able to go back in again and change things (you should only be able to choose free practice)
  • After selecting a weekly Goal, the Team profile screen will not refresh and show it
  • There are some overarching in-game fatigue issues during gameplay

• Staff/Enhanced Goals
  • There will likely be a crash going into the Manage Staff screen after accessing the Staff Moves Action Item
  • The Staff Moves will not load any information if you go in twice
  • Changing filters will force you to lose the highlight on the Staff Management screen, making it difficult to navigate
  • In Gameday Goals, the Head Coach goal of "Shut Out" will display <oppteamlongname> in title text

• Hub
  • Sometimes main menu options will be displayed instead of the expected information. Exiting and re-entering the screen should address this.
  • The ties will cause visual issues in the Standings panel of the Home tab
  • The header will be missing in the Home tab, while the user team logo will be missing in the bottom right corner of the Hub
  • There will be a few miscellaneous size/spacing/formatting issues in the UI
  • Expect data refresh issues in various screens
  • There will be bad data in panels during the Fantasy Draft and when the user Coach is not on a team

• Season Engine (Scenarios)
  • Some scenarios will use incorrect cinematic environments
  • Some scenario reward screens will feature an incorrect staff points icon
  • Scenario goal titles will appear in all caps in all goal screens and hubs
  • The Hot and Cold Opponent scenarios will trigger too often, as well as in the playoffs

Known Issues with Gameplay

• Ratings are not accurate
• Playbooks are not final
• Pass Rush tuning is not final
• Expect late drops caused by defender contact on Aggressive Catches
• Expect flat defenders to be slow to react to the flats in coverage
• Most ‘End of Game’ highlights will not be functional
• Deep Zones will not effectively cover sidelines/the back corner of the end zone
• Deep Zones will not effectively cover deep crossing routes
• Throw-out-Sack adjustments will be incomplete on Competitive game style
• Jumping sideline catches will not always get the player’s feet down in-bounds 
• Expect broken hit-stick tackles; Tuning is ongoing
• Question marks will sometimes randomly hover over various players’ heads during play
• The first down augmented line on the field will not be functional
• There are some issues with the DGD Momentum Meter; it will not work right in Superstar KO and The Yard
• Tendency Gameplay UI will not be final; some text in the build will not be accurate on these menus

Known Issues in Madden Ultimate Team 

• Exiting the missions screen may cause a crash
• Some menu description text will read “There’s Subtext Here”
• Expect no deep-links within Mission Activities
• There will be no offers in the MUT store
• Several Play modes are not meant to be accessible during the Madden 22 Community Playtest, including:
  • H2H Salary Cap Ranked
  • H2H Play a Friend
  • Draft
  • Squads Play a Friend
• No Sets are available

Known Issues with Commentary

• Expect some missing commentary during the second part of the pre-game intro (e.g. while showing NextGen Stats)
• There will not be Coachman commentary during halftime (e.g. when showing NextGen Stats tendencies)
• There will not be commentary specific to the three new NextGen Stats replays
• Expect gaps in commentary for rookies and players on new teams
• The onboarding VO is not updated yet (i.e. might hear “Welcome to Madden NFL 21”)

Things to Look out for Throughout the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest

As participants get into gameplay over the next few weeks, there are a few things to keep in mind: 

• Participants already playing the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest will receive a Week 2 Build Update. Participants that accept this build update will lose all information and leagues created.  Following the update, participants will be able to recreate and reload previous information in The Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest.
• NFL Player and Rookie Ratings throughout the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest are not final and will shift in the final game build. Currently, Player Ratings are similar to those in Madden NFL 21, and Rookie Ratings are based on averages of each of their positions.
• Starting a league in the improved and revamped Franchise includes: 
  • Select “Franchise” from the main menu 
  • Choose the “Active Roster” option
  • Select any Team
  • Change any League Settings as desired (such as: Quarter Length, Accelerated Clock, or amount of cost per Talent)

Feedback on the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest - Madden Voice

Feedback is extremely important to us. We want to ensure our team gets participant feedback to continue making updates and improvements to Madden NFL 22, so it has what our players want and need.

Below, we have listed insights and questions around various modes available in the Community Playtest. Playtest participants may submit additional feedback on the Madden Voice website.

Community Frequently Asked Questions

Q: If I did not sign up to be included in the Madden Playtest at the registration site, what is the best way to get a Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest?

A: Make sure to follow our social channels on Twitter (i.e. @EAMaddenNFL, etc.) for a chance to win extra giveaway codes to participate in the Madden NFL 22 Community Playtest.

*MADDEN NFL 22 CLOSED COMMUNITY PLAYTEST REQUIRES, PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION, EA ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF (I) Pre-release Feedback AGREEMENT (Closed) AND (II) PRIVACY & COOKIE POLICY AND, A XBOX LIVE GOLD OR PLAYSTATION PLUS SUBSCRIPTION (BOTH SOLD SEPARATELY). MUST BE 18+. GAMEPLAY PROGRESS, ACHIEVEMENTS, CHARACTERS, CHARACTER DATA AND/OR ANY OTHER VALUE OR STATUS INDICATORS ACHIEVED IN THE MADDEN NFL 22 CLOSED COMMUNITY PLAYTEST REQUIRES WILL NOT TRANSFER TO MADDEN NFL 22 MAIN GAME. MADDEN NFL 22 CLOSED COMMUNITY PLAYTEST REQUIRES IS PRE-RELEASE SOFTWARE, MAY CONTAIN ERRORS/DEFECTS AND IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY.

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Madden NFL 22 launches worldwide on August 20, 2021. Pre-order the Madden NFL 22 Dynasty or MVP Edition and play early. Stay in the conversation by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Answers HQ.