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The Madden 26 Gameplay reveal dropped earlier this week, mentioning hundreds of new tackle animations along with major community requests like custom zones, and more. Driven by NFL data, Madden 26 seeks to improve its authenticity by looking just like the real game. But EA Sports also wants to create a better gameplay experience for fans. Let’s see how they aim to do that in their latest Gridiron blog.
According to EA Sports, Madden 26 will feature over 700 new tackle animations for players to see. Last year, Madden 25 featured physics-based tackling. Essentially, this system used the player’s data to determine all sorts of things during a tackle. The system has been upgraded, offering more unique looks to try and make each tackle look different.
And that’s not all. Beyond new tackle animations comes more control over your celebrations. When you run into an end zone, you’ll have a chance to run to a specific area. These areas all provide opportunities for different celebrations to occur. Depending on where you are, you’ll see something different.
But these new animations are just the tip of the iceberg on some of the new gameplay mechanics players can experience. Madden 26 features tons of improvements from community requests. Here are some of the big ones.
What Are Custom Zones in Madden 26?
Custom Zones allow the player to specifically designate an area for a defender to cover. Does the QB often throw to his best receiver deep down the field? Put a custom zone up top to prevent any more big plays. Overall, this system provides you with more control over where your defenders go. Furthermore, this mechanic overrides any Coach Adjustments, making your custom route the one to choose from.
Madden first introduced the custom stem feature last year. And now with custom zones, you basically have that system but on defense. But what are some other new systems coming to the game?
Madden 26 Leverage System Is Just One Way The Developers Want to improve blocking
The new Madden 26 Gameplay Gridiron notes focuses a lot on improved blocking mechanics. But perhaps the biggest new feature is the brand new leverage system. Overall, this system “knows what leverage is desired” to help the game determine who wins the gap. Essentially, it uses more logical reasoning to determine who dominates on the line.
With offense and defense receiving tons of improvements, it makes sense that the same applies to the trenches. And the Pass Block Mechanics received a few upgrades. This year, EA Sports added unique pass protections to each passing play in the playbooks. Each scheme is available in the pre-play adjustment menu. So you can easily access them before the play.
This is all just the tip of the iceberg in terms of pass block improvements. Madden 26 is adding new pre-set protections, a new pre-play mechanic, and so much more.
Additionally, they’ve improved blocking...
