The Madden team has released a new title update today, with and much of it focuses on player abilities.

Madden 20 November Title Update

The latest Madden update has added a new X-Factor zone ability called “Momentum Shift.” Inspired by former Ravens LB Ray Lewis, this ability will knock all opposing players out the Zone, and also will wipe out all of an opponent’s zone progress. This ability will activate after three successful hit-stick tackles in Arcade and Simulation, or five in Competitive play.

In addition, all abilities from previous title updates are now supported in Franchise mode. Here all the full patch notes from today’s update:

Key Highlights

• New X-Factor Zone Ability:
  • Momentum Shift – Inspired by Ultimate Team Legend LB Ray Lewis, Momentum Shift will knock all opposing players out of the Zone in addition to wiping out all opponents’ Zone progress. Momentum Shift activates after 3 total successful hit-stick tackles on Arcade and Simulation, or 5 total on Competitive.
    • Franchise Requirements: Available as a Zone Ability for Field General MLB, Run Support FS and Run Support SS
    • Ultimate Team Requirements: Available as a Zone ability for Linebackers
• All abilities from previous Title Update are now supported in Franchise Mode

Global Updates

• General Stability and Connectivity improvements
• NFL Player Likeness Updates:
  • Bears RB David Montgomery
  • Cowboys RB Tony Pollard
  • Titans P Brett Kern
  • Jets LB Blake Cashman
  • Fixed an issue with likeness of Buccaneers RB Peyton Barber
  • Updated hair for Falcons WR Julio Jones
• Added a new version of Bears throwback helmet
• Updated side stripes on Titans home and away and alternate uniforms
• Updated referee hats to display ‘NFL 100’ logo

Franchise Updates

• All abilities added in the previous update are now available in new and existing Franchise leagues:
  • Mossed – Inspired by Ultimate Team Legend WR Randy Moss, when players with this ability enter the zone, they will win contested catches regardless of coverage on passes of 55 yards or more (but does fall back to ratings formula when countered by defenders with Zoned Out, Man Up, Universal Coverage, Shutdown, and Zone Hawk abilities)
  • Lumberjack – Defensive ability, preventing broken tackles and can cause fumbles when using cut-stick tackles
  • Out My Way – Defensive ability that always wins vs. impact block attempts vs. WR’s, TE’s and RB’s
  • Goalline Stuff – Defensive ability for quick block sheds against 1-on-1 run blocks within 5 yds of the goalline
  • Inside Stuff – Defensive ability allowing quick block sheds against 1-on-1 run blocks on inside running plays
  • No Outsiders – Defensive ability allowing quick block sheds against 1-on-1 run blocks on outside running plays
  • Tank – Inspired by Ultimate Team Legend TE Rob Gronkowski, ball carriers with this ability break all hit-stick tackles (but does fall back to ratings formula when countered by ‘Enforcer’)
    • DEV NOTE: As we were testing the previous title update we discovered a serious bug in our process which required us to remove the Franchise data that supported the new abilities that were added in Madden’s other game modes.  Rather than removing them from the update entirely, we chose to release them in the other modes, fix the bug, and then release the abilities in today’s title update instead. Moving forward, we are still committed to all modes getting the applicable content at the same time. Thank you for your patience! The new abilities can be found in new generated rookie classes and are available as ability re-rolls in existing leagues.
• Updated “Full On-Field Control” League option for players to work for H2H games
• New ‘Game Day’ scenarios added around Playoff scouting and the Super Bowl for new and existing Franchise leagues
• Fixed an issue exposing debug text in new league News stories
• Adjusted League Commissioner setting: Player OVR Cut Restrictions from 60 OVR to 70 OVR
• Fixed an issue in multi-user leagues during a ‘Forced Week Advance’ causing the player card to display incorrect information
• Changed the ‘Coach Preseason Mentor’ scenarios so that they are no longer triggering on the same player year-over-year

Presentation Updates

• Various Commentary Updates
• Fixed an issue causing the Play Call Screen and/or Kick Meter to disappear after pressing the pause button following a timeout
• Updated Superstar loading screen for Seahawks DE Jadeveon Clowney
• Added receiver ‘red line’ to the practice field

Gameplay Updates

• Tuning to ‘Mossed’ Zone Ability: Increased Zone triggers to Three catches of 30+ air yards on Arcade and Simulation, and Five catches on Competitive; also increased required distance of passes when active from 50+ to 55+ air yards.
• Updated running animations for scrambling QB’s
• Tuning to reduce effectiveness of Aggressive Run Blocking coach adjustment
• Tuning to reduce frequency of AI-controlled players attempting strip tackles when using the Aggressive Strip Ball coach adjustment; also reduced chance of face-mask penalties & broken tackles with this adjustment
• Tuning to reduce stumbling on defenders after a turnover
• Fixed an issue sometimes causing players to freeze when scoring a TD at the same time they were breaking a tackle
• Fixed an issue causing the spot of the ball to be incorrect when catching a punt while out of bounds
• Fixed an issue preventing QB Contain defenders from properly disengaging in the 4-3 Over formation
• Fixed an issue preventing zone coverage defenders from breaking into pursuit vs. QB Draw plays
• Fixed an issue preventing a tackle in a specific multi-player interception animation
• Fixed an issue causing the Deep Middle Third defender in Cover 3 plays to abandon his zone vs. PA Read plays
• DEV NOTE: A quick update on the status of playbook updates: Playbooks are still a big part of our continuous development plan for Madden NFL 20, and while we’ve already made some updates this year, our players have told us they want more. We’re excited to share that we have some significant playbook content in the works that should be ready for launch before the end of the calendar year, in addition to regular playbook updates in the meantime, so stay tuned!

Ultimate Team Updates

• Added Secondary Positions for select players
  • DEV NOTE: Secondary Positions allow users to substitute players with this capability into other positions and still have their Chemistry count towards the lineup. The Secondary Position feature is only available on select Power Ups and will open up after you consume the Core Elite or Legend version of the player. For example, Aaron Donald will have the option to be designated as either LE or DT once his Power Up reaches the Tier after placing in his Core Elite. A full list of eligible players and their positions will be posted shortly. 
• Likeness update and signature passing animations added for Ultimate Team Legend QB Peyton Manning
• Likeness update for young version of Ultimate Team Legend RB Emmitt Smith

Superstar KO

• New Legends added to the Superstar: KO draft pool
  • WR Marvin Harrison
  • CB Deion Sanders
  • SS Troy Polamalu
  • FS Ed Reed

For more Madden news, be sure to keep checking out the SGO site.

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