The #NFLdropEA hashtag speaks to the deep dissatisfaction with sports sims in general. The FIFA, NHL, Madden, and NBA 2K communities have become overwhelmingly toxic as a result. Don't blame the devs who care a ton. Blame the annualized model that shackles them.

I think sports sims devs are in a no-win scenario in general, of course. Games like Madden are a huge tent that must satisfy competitive players, sim players, arcade fans, casual fans... and with limited resources. Even MUT gets few resources than people think.

Worth noting that MLB The Show 20 is an 83 on Metacitic / has a 6.5 user score. By sports games standards, that's really good. What's Sony San Diego doing differently? Well, they consistently put out a high-quality game with clever modes that all tie into one cohesive experience

Pulling off that balance is incredibly difficult in an annualized model. It's a tribute to Sony San Diego that it has come so close to pulling it off.

As for Madden, it's hard to get a feel for the overall vision. Is it a competitive game? An arcade game? What's the purpose of Face of the Franchise? It doesn't feel coherent. The gameplay is strong this year, but even that's marred by bugs.

Anyway, @atzuniga asked me how Madden and FIFA can get back to consistently getting 90s on Metacritic. The answer, probably: ditch the annualized model and go with a seasonal update model on top of a base version. Release a new base version every few years.

It's probably not feasible under the current license structure, since the leagues love have a game to celebrate their new season, but it's just too difficult to consistently put out a high-quality product under the current structure.