With news releasing thi𝄹s morning surrounding the det▨ails of Madden 21’s The Yard,players now have a better idea of what to expect in the new mode once the full game launches o🌳n August 25th (or three days earlie✱r, should they pre-order the Deluxe or MVP Edition of the game).
During a press event that provided an early look at the new mode, TheGamer had the opportun👍ity to speak with The Yard’s producer, JP Kallams, who was kind enough to answer some questions while elaborating on the details for the backyard football game mode.
Teams in The Yard will be comprised of various NFL superstars selected specifically for the mode. Although🃏 every NFL player isn’t available, the hope is to add in legendary players and Hall of Famers down the road.
JP Kallams: “We’re definitely interested in adding to the Hall of Famers and legends. I think that you can look at what we did in ‘Superstar KO’ last year as kind of a prototype of what we were thinking about doing for The Yard. It’s not the full NFL roster - it’s specially selected players thꦏat we feel have interesting connections to the locations. So, in Lambeau, you’ve got lots of Packers and NFC North guys; Miami has players who are connected to South Florida; with Berlin, it’s those Pro Bowlers and All-Pros; and with F.O.B. Nico, it sits as kind of like a 'training gr🀅ound' -♍ we picked players who had amazing performances at the NFL combine. So, I think as we add new locations, we’ll have new ideas for who populates those locations, and we’ll continue to iterate on the rosters that you’ll see at each one of the locales.”
via EA Sports
There’s quite a lot to take in, in terms of The Yard’s progression system. It diff꧑ers from a typical sports game rating system, resembling a bit more of an RPG-type of player Prototype progres൩sion.
“It’s a little bit RPG-influenced. What we really want you to do with the Prototype progression is to be playing lots of games. So you play lots of games, earn lots of XP, and then as you level up, the rewards for leveling up are these skill points. Each Prototype has f♋our or five skills that we deemed critical to that Prototype that really differentiates that Prototype from other players on the field. Earning those skill points allows you to power up those skills.
For instance, on ‘Truzz’ - the Lamar [Jackson] Prototype - you’ve got speed. So, power Lamar up to his full possible speed. You’ve got throw accuracy. And then you’ve got a couple that are really Ironman-inspired. Somebody like Lamar, he’s a big dude, but he’🌱s not the biggest dude. But if somebody’s that fast, they’d a great open field tackler, giving you the ability to upgrade his tackle rating. Also his catch rating. Because he’s so fast, you might want to use Lamar in a receiver position. You could multi-snap out to him as your quarterback, or just have him run his route. Because of his speed he’ll be a great receiver, so being able to upgrade his catch rating is really something that’ll differentiate that Prototype. That goes for basically eℱvery Prototype that we have in the game.
An interesting way to thin🍌k𒁃 about it is: who are the prototypical NFL players and what do they do, but what would they do in Ironman.”
Kallams went on to use Ray Lewis as another example of a prototypical NFL player who would undoubtedly be terrorizing in the role of a running back. He has a point. I mean, just imagine Lewis running full speed at you with thꦏe football.
via EA Sports
With Madden NFL being a major title within th𝓀e competitive esports scene - specifically spea♛king to the Madden Championship🌠 Series - it seems like The Yard would be a great mode to make its way into formal competitions. Although Kallams said he wasn’t allowed to announce anything, he did mention that The Yard plays differe♉ntly enough that there is a lot to consider in terms of formal competitions.
“It plays so dif💞ferently that I think it’s going to be really important to kind of let it settle in the community for a little bit and get feedback. While we’ve been working incredibly hard on balance and we’ve liked where we’ve arrived… who knows what these super skilled Madden players are going t♑o be doing with this. It plays so differently that once they get their head into, ‘Oh, ok, this is how The Yard plays,’ what are they creating? What potential imbalances do they expose? I think once we understand that and we feel comfortable about it being a fair game for everyone to play, is when I think it becomes a more competitive game.
The way that we’ve described it… is casually competitive. People want to win, but they're not t𝔉he super sweaty, ‘this is an esport’ kind of people. They’re the people who want to pick up a controller and play against their friends and be happy that they pla🔯yed. I think that’s the initial audience for The Yard.”
via EA Sports
On that note, I mentioned that The Yard seems like a mode in which players can play with a bit more reckless abandon, but Kallums was quick to point out that strategy and thoughtfulness are still very much invo🐼lved in the mode, especially as players become more familiar with the gameplay mechanics.
“NFL Blitz comes up as a comparison to The Yard a lot, and it definitely doesn't feel like Blitz. It feels like a very kind of almost cerebral way of ꩵplaying in the moment in Madden. If traditional 11-on-11 football is 80% playcalling and 20% what you do on the field, that’s flipped in The Yard. So, all of those skills that you have in Madden carry over into Yard gameplay, but the way that you have to kind of live in the moment of every single play is very, very different. You’re not trying to execute on a blueprint that you picked before the play, you’re trying to execute on what the game is giving you in that moment.
I think it’s actually really accessible. You do eventually start becoming reckless beca﷽use you hit moments when you don’t know what to do, so you decide to just try something. When you get stuck in 11-on-11 Madden, you take your ‘L’ and say, ‘I’ll get ‘em next play.’ When you get stuck in the middle of a play in The Yard, you’re like, ‘Can I lateral to somebody? Is anybody open? Alright, ball carrier stick!' You start going through these emergent gameplay progressions that are really different.”
via EA Sports
Clearly, a common theme that Kallums kept mentioning is that The Yard is meant as an entirely ne🍌w gameplay experience for the Madden franchise. Based on my own time spent in a preview version of the game, I can confirm that this is in fact the case, and I pe✃rsonally can’t wait to dive into the full version once Madden 21 releases later this month.
A ♏b𒐪ig thank you goes out to JP Kallams and the team behind The Yard for taking time to speak with TheGamer about Madden 21’s highly-anticipated new mode, The Yard!
