SALEM, OR - Madden NFL 26 receives its first Title Update today, August 28, 2025. If you're wondering what's inside without digging through every bullet, here's the short version: EA has added Nike Rivalries uniforms (AFC East, NFC West), three international stadiums (Berlin, Madrid, Dublin), and a fresh playbook from Kurt Benkert ("Benkert's Dimes").


They also overhauled zone defense logic, squashed a variety of visual and UI bugs, improved mode-specific stability (especially in Franchise, Superstar, and MUT), and even cleaned up rookie name audio glitches. Everything in this post reflects only what EA included in today's Gridiron Notes.

Let's break it down in full…

Nike Rivalries Program

  • The brand-new Nike Rivalries program debuts, spotlighting the AFC East and NFC West with custom Nike uniforms in-game-adding a fresh dose of rivalry pride.

Gameplay & Zone Defense Updates

  • Cover 2 Tampa: The middle defender now drops deeper to better counter deep threats, especially in 3×1 formations.

  • Cover 2 Hard Flats: Fixed overly deep and inward drops; defenders now maintain proper zone positioning in shallow areas.

  • Cover 3 Match: Enhanced logic for defenders reacting to Slot WRs on deep routes, including Buzz Mable and Zone Blitz 3.

  • Cover 6 & Cover 4 Palms: Outside Quarters CBs no longer press WRs prone to beat them-improving consistency in coverage.

  • All zone defenders drop back faster when shading "overtop."

  • Visual fixes: Resolved a glitch where defenders performed "read steps" after plays and fixed an issue where the previous-play graphic blocked the current formation view.

  • New Playbook: Introduced "Benkert's Dimes", a fully customized playbook made in collaboration with Kurt Benkert-now available in Play Now.

Presentation & Stadium Additions

  • Added three international stadiums available in Play Now, Franchise, and Superstar:

    • Olympiastadion (Berlin, Germany)

    • Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (Madrid, Spain)

    • Dublin Stadium (Ireland)

  • Multiple crash fixes and general stability improvements.

Franchise Mode Enhancements

  • Improved UI transition into the Player Card (note: smoother exit transitions will be added in a future update).

  • Fixed an issue where commissioners could send multiple league invites simultaneously.

  • Restored the ability for Edge players to add Pass Rushing Traits.

  • Resolved a draft board transparency bug that allowed the background to show through.

  • EA also flagged known issues to be addressed in future updates: class import impacting player body types, IR list removal problems, and nose tackle archetype OVR mismatches.

Superstar Mode Fixes

  • Lowered fumble rates in snow games.

  • Corrected cases where players appeared in the wrong positions.

  • Fixed a rare glitch causing players’ knees to be invisible during the NFL Combine.

  • Additional stability fixes rolled in.

Ultimate Team (MUT) Optimizations

  • "Play A Friend" now respects each user's individual passing settings.

  • Addressed visual artifacts appearing when opening Fantasy Packs after H2H matches.

  • Ensured reward images now properly appear.

  • Fixed navigation glitches that pushed players to incorrect menus.

  • Corrected a text error where "Rank Down" incorrectly appeared instead of "Rank Up."

  • Ranked progress now displays correctly.

  • Patched overlapping text issues.

  • Eliminated occasional lobby crashes on return.

  • Item visuals now accurately reflect their actual rarity.

Audio Corrections

  • Fixed commentary that had been referring to some rookies by the wrong last name.

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