Madden NFL 24 gameplay deep dive shows off new systems coming to PC and current gen consoles

Shiny new tech powers Madden NFL 24, but not on PS4 or Xbox One

After the Madden NFL 24 release date announcement, EA Sports has moved on to show off the changes implemented in this year’s version of the annual sports title. Two shiny pieces of tech power some of the improvements, though only players on the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S versions of the football sim will be able to enjoy them. If you’re planning to play Madden NFL 24 on PS4 or Xbox One, technologies like FieldSENSE and SAPIEN won’t have any impact on your experience.

FieldSENSE comes with a variety of benefits, such as an expansion of the mid-air catch tackles from the previous game. Players will have more control to defend curl routes, slants, and streaks and new animations have been added to make interactions between defenders and receivers a bit more authentic.

In terms of tackling control and variety, the sizes of the opposing players will have more of an impact on the outcome. The New Defender Advantage formula chooses tackles more dynamically based on the players' ratings, size, speed, and momentum. For example, smaller defenders will take out the legs of heavier ball carriers now.

With the ability to chip block, enter and exit double teams on the fly, blockers should be able to seamlessly navigate through defenders and blocking interactions, preventing them from getting stuck on ongoing interactions or having to re-target away from their intended targets when colliding with an adjacent defender.

The Passing System got some upgrades as well, such as the addition of new Jump and Dive passes for players like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen to improvise when they need to get a clear passing lane and more no-look pass animations.

Catching has been overhauled with hundreds of new animations designed to significantly reduce the frequency of missed catches and improve on areas like maintaining speed and momentum when catching the ball. Dive catches are back on the menu as well.

The SAPIEN technology consists of a new performance skeleton on which the game’s player models are based. Scans of all the NFL athletes have been laid on top of them and with the right amount of mapping you get fluid and authentic animations for how each individual player moves. It’s not the players benefiting from this: Officials will be back on the field as well, represented as male and female models.

There’s a lot more to be discovered for hardcore fans, so be sure to check the official gridiron notes.