Madden NFL 22 Is Kind Of A Mess
"Madden NFL 22" might've broken the Madden curse, but it didn't break the series' tradition with buggy launches. The latest game in the "Madden NFL" series released on August 20 with mixed reviews from critics, and players are already reporting a number of infuriating problems. Some of these issues range from minor bugs to game-breaking glitches. In short, it's not a good start.
The "Loss Glitch," one of the worst glitches in the game, is plaguing franchise mode players by basically rewriting their progress after games. One Twitter user reported winning one of their franchise games 42-7. Yet, it registered as a loss without any stat count. Another user complained about franchise mode crashing every 10 minutes with glitched visuals.
Server maintenance addressed franchise desync issues earlier this month. However, it wasn't enough to completely patch the glitchfest that has social media in an uproar about the brokenness of the game. In addition to the notably buggy franchise mode, other users reported major gameplay issues and desynced players who don't move to the proper parts of the field.
There's a patch coming but we don't know when
IGN's Kat Bailey pointed out that "Madden NFL" games normally launch with a few of these glitches, so this turnout isn't exactly shocking. The pandemic reportedly added to the strain with the work-from-home mandates, too. EA devs told IGN that they resolved any remote work issues over the course of the year, but it looks like that didn't include the recent bugs. Bailey also noticed numerous bugs while playing through the game for the site's review.
She apparently dodged the loss glitch by playing through the cloud. However, she did get booted back to the main menu after games like others reported. "Much worse were the strange bounces by the ball, the field glitches, and a multitude of Face of the Franchise issues, such as Trevor Lawrence being drafted back-to-back with my own highly-regarded rookie quarterback," she wrote.
An EA rep reportedly reached out to IGN to say, "Things are in the works, stay tuned!" However, they didn't detail the exact fixes the team was working on or when players could expect a patch. On Twitter, promotions are continuing as normal with the recent "Campus Legends" series. Underneath, frustrated franchise players continue to plead for a fix before any more events.
Football fans interested in the latest "Madden" can buy the game for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. You might want to wait for the latest patch, though.