I'll be honest - I'm part of the problem. I buy Madden pretty much every year (or every other year), fully aware that it barely ever changes. And usually? I still get some enjoyment out of it. It's always been a decent game to just jump into for a few chilled games of football, especially in Franchise or Superstar mode.

But Madden 26 has genuinely pushed that patience to its limit.

The biggest issue is stability. The game CONSTANTLY freezes, and the EA servers are an absolute mess. Disconnects happen way too often, to the point where finishing a full game in Superstar mode fells like a coin toss. There's nothing worse than investing time into a match or your career, only for it to crash or boot you out for no reason.

And then there's multiplayer... which could be fun, but just isn't. It's completely overrun with microtransactions. If you dare go online, you're almost guaranteed to come up against someone with a ridiculously stacked team that you simply can't compete with unless you're willing to spend extra money. It feels heavily pay-to-win, which just kills any motivation to even try.

What's frustrating is that I want to enjoy this game. The core idea is still there, and I've always liked the career modes. But between the technical issues and the monetisation, it's just not worth the hassle this time around.

Easily one of the worst Maddens in recent years - and that's saying something.

EA SPORTS™ Mawce NFL 26

Absolute trash of a game. Even on sale for $13.99 it still wasn't worth it. Again the same issue of terrible blocking schemes and a.i. that stop blocking mid play to just stand there with their hands up. As you can see I barely played past the pre-season of franchise and I uninstalled the game. EA FIX YOUR ♥♥♥♥♥♥ A.I.!!! No reason for players to stop blocking mid play or run straight out of bounds as a lead blocker. Even if this was on sale for $1 I'd tell you stay away.