PlayStation 4 Manual

CONTENTS

GETTING STARTED ...............................2

WHAT’S NEW IN MADDEN NFL 16 ............3

COMPLETE CONTROLS ..........................5

GAMEPLAY FEATURES ..........................10

PLAYING THE GAME ..............................15

GAME MODES ......................................19

OTHER ONLINE FEATURES ....................43

NEED HELP? ........................................45

See important health and safety warnings in the system Settings menu.

GETTING STARTED

P

LAY

S

TATION

®

4 system

Starting a game: Before use, carefully read the instructions supplied with the

PS4

™

computer entertainment system. The documentation contains information on setting up and using your system as well as important safety information.

Touch the (power) button of the PS4

™

system to turn the system on. The power indicator blinks in blue, and then lights up in white. Insert the EA SPORTS

Madden NFL 16 disc with the label facing up into the disc slot. The game

™ appears in the content area of the home screen. Select the software title in the

PS4

™

system’s home screen, and then press the S button. Refer to this manual

Quitting a game: Press and hold the p

button, and then select [Close

Application] on the screen that is displayed.

Returning to the home screen from a game: To return to the home screen without quitting a game, press the p

button. To resume playing the game select it from the content area.

Removing a disc: Touch the (eject) button after quitting the game.

Trophies: Earn, compare and share trophies that you earn by making specific in-game accomplishments. Trophies access requires a Sony

Entertainment Network account.

2

WHAT’S NEW IN

MADDEN NFL 16

EA SPORTS Madden NFL 16 brings you the most authentic simulated football experience to date. This year, emphasis is on catching and the mechanics behind it. Whether you’re making Aggressive Catches where you can high-point the ball or RAC Catches that gain extra yards, you’ll feel more in control than ever when it comes to receiving the ball.

Enhancements have also been made to game modes such as Franchise and

Madden Ultimate Team (MUT). These improvements, along with the all-new game mode Draft Champions, make Madden NFL 16 the best offering to date.

BE THE PLAYMAKER

Be the playmaker and dominate in the battle for air supremacy with

Madden NFL 16’s all-new air supremacy controls. New quarterback mechanics include body-relative throws as well as touch and roll out passes, so you have unprecedented depth and control while under pressure. Combined with a new risk/reward catch and pass-defend system, get ready for the biggest “wow” moments in franchise history.

DRAFT CHAMPIONS

Draft Champions allows you to draft a team comprised of today’s NFL stars and yesterday’s Legends; the draft itself is 15 rounds. First, you will select a Coach, which provides their playbook and team style, and then select one of three players offered in each round. From there, they take their team to the field to compete in

Solo or Head-to-Head games. The more you win, the greater the rewards.

RECEIVER/DEFENDER CONTROLS

For the first time ever in Madden, you can dictate the outcome of each passing play while the ball is still in the air. For receivers, go for the highlight reel with the

Aggressive Catch or move the chains with the Possession Catch. On defense, disrupt the outcome of each play using the new “play ball” and “hit receiver” mechanics.

Receivers and defenders deliver the most authentic exchanges to date with new press and zone-chuck interactions, contextual hand-fighting, and a variety of two-man interactions at the catch point. These include pass interference penalties, tip balls, knock outs, and simultaneous possession catches.

3

INTEGRATED BROADCAST GRAPHICS

Your playmaker highlight reel has arrived with new player spotlights, dynamic goals and achievements, and innovative on-the-field cameras bringing you closer to the game than ever before. Making plays has never been this much fun and rewarding!

FRANCHISE

Whether playing solo or online with Friends, your quest to build an NFL dynasty comes complete with a brand-new scouting and draft system as well as dynamic goals throughout each game. Develop players with Game Prep and build your team’s confidence through performance and front office transactions. Balance keeping players’ confidence up to increase abilities and build player XP.

MADDEN ULTIMATE TEAM (MUT)

Build your Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) with your favorite NFL players from the past and present while dominating the opposition in Head-to-Head Seasons,

Solo Challenges, and more. Earn coins to buy packs through the Online

Marketplace, where you can trade and auction off items on the road to building the Ultimate Team. Engage with the NFL year-round, thanks to live content and service updates in the fastest-growing mode in Madden.

GATORADE™ SKILLS TRAINER

New to Gatorade

™

Skills Trainer are concepts that teach you proper run technique for zone runs, counter plays, trap plays, and power plays. There are also new challenges to help you learn the new passing and catching mechanics, along with the new coverage mechanic.

You can now earn extra lives in Gauntlet. And with new Ladder Challenges, you have the opportunity to jump levels by completing a given challenge; if you falter, you will drop down levels instead. Just don’t get too cocky during the

Gauntlet—boss battles are now randomized!

4

COMPLETE CONTROLS

PLAY CALLING

The play-calling experience has been tweaked in Madden NFL 16. You can adjust this setting at any time by visiting SETTINGS > GAME OPTIONS > PLAY

CALL STYLE, or set it from the options that appear before each game:

Quick

Shows you one play from Coach Suggestions, but you can press the V button to cycle through more options.

Press the

Z

and

X

buttons to cycle to Strategy

Suggestions, Community Suggestions, and Frequently

Run Plays. You can also back out of this option and return to the full playbook.

Enhanced

Slim

Gives you three suggestions at a time with a full range of options including Coach Suggestions, Formation, Concept,

Play Type, Personnel, and Recent Plays to choose from.

This option has all the same choices as Enhanced but allows you to see all of the beautiful broadcast presentation Madden NFL 16 has to offer.

You can also change the Tempo setting in Madden NFL 16 to fine-tune how you deal with the clock:

Normal

No Huddle

The default option.

Your offense automatically goes into the No Huddle offense every time it gets tackled in bounds and the clock is running.

Chew Clock

This runs the play clock down to 10 seconds—a great option late in the game, when you’re looking to deplete the game clock!

5

GAME CONTROLS

PRE-PLAY OFFENSE

Snap ball

(Hurry to Line)

Switch player

Motion player

Hot route

Pass protection

Fake snap

Show Play Art

Player Lock

Show/Hide Pre-Play menu

Zoom in gameplay camera

Zoom out gameplay camera

PASSING

High pass to specific receiver

Low pass to specific receiver

Throw to receiver (1)

Lob to receiver (1)

Touch pass to receiver (1)

Bullet pass to receiver (1)

















Pump fake

Check out of play action/scramble

Roll Out Loco

Throw ball away

QB avoidance

Total control passing

S button

A button left stick

D button

Q button

E button

R button

B button

N button

C button

V button

Q button + S/A/F/D/E button

W button + S/A/F/D/E button

F button

F button (tap)

F button (double tap)

F button (hold)

S button

S button (tap)

S button (double tap)

S button (hold)

A button

A button (tap)

A button (double tap)

A button (hold)

D button

D button (tap)

D button (double tap)

D button (hold)

E button

E button (tap)

E button (double tap)

E button (hold)

B button, outside pocket right stick

+ direction

R button

R button (tap), then left stick + direction

N button right stick + direction left stick + direction when throwing

6

BALL CARRIER

Stiff arm punch

Stiff arm hold

(near defender)

Celebrate

(in open field)

Spin

Dive

Slide/Give Up

Hurdle

Pitch ball

Switch ball hand

Protect ball

Precision modifier

(decelerate)

Stutter step

Precision spin

Precision dive

Precision high dive

(behind blocker)

Precision hurdle

Acceleration burst

Speed change

Juke

Precision juke

Precision jump cut

(behind line of scrimmage)

Get skinny (behind blocker)

Back juke

Precision back juke

Truck

Precision truck

Lunge for yards

(with stumble recovery icon active)

Stumble recovery

(with stumble recovery icon active)

Truck spin combo

Precision truck spin combo

S button (tap)

S button (hold)

W button + S button (hold)

A button/right stick (half circle)

F button (hold)

F button (tap)

D button

Q button

E button (tap)

E button (hold)

W button

W button (tap)

W button + A button/ W button + right stick (half circle)

W button + F button

W button + F button

W button + D button

R button

W button + R button

Z button/X button

W button + Z button/X button

W button + Z button/X button

E button (hold) right stick (back)

W button + right stick (back) right stick C

W button + right stick C right stick

C right stick (back) right stick

C, Y, Z, O, V

W button + right stick C, Y, Z, O, V

7

BALL CARRIER (CONT.)

Juke left, spin left combo

Precision juke left, spin left combo

Juke left, spin right combo

Precision juke left, spin right combo

Juke right, spin left combo

Precision juke right, spin left combo

Juke right, spin right combo

Precision juke right, spin right combo

Back juke, spin left combo

Precision back juke, spin left combo

Back juke, spin right combo

Precision back juke, spin right combo

Juke left, juke right combo

Precision juke left, juke right combo

Juke right, juke left combo

Precision juke right, juke left combo

BALL IN AIR/LOOSE BALL

Auto play/Defensive assist

Switch player

Conservative Catch

Play Receiver (on defense)

RAC Catch

Dive (on defense)

Aggressive Catch

Play Ball (on defense)

Swat

Strafe


right stick

Z, Y, C, I, X

W button + right stick Z, Y, C, I, X right stick Z, O, V, U, X

W button + right stick Z, O, V, U, X right stick

X, Z, Y, C, I, X

W button + right stick X, Z, Y, C, I, X right stick

X, Z, O, V, U, X

W button + right stick X, Z, O, V, U, X right stick V, O, Z, Y, C

W button + right stick V, O, Z, Y, C right stick

V, U, X, I, C

W button + right stick V, U, X, I, C right stick Z, X

W button + right stick Z, X right stick X, Z

W button + right stick X, Z

Q button

A button

S button (hold)

S button (hold)

F button (hold)

F button (hold)

D button (hold)

D button (hold)

F button

W button

R button

8

PRE-PLAY DEFENSE

Individual adjustment

Switch player

Select player

Audible menu

Coverage audible

Defensive line audible

Linebacker audible

Defensive keys

Off the line

Show Play Art

Zoom in gameplay camera

Zoom out gameplay camera

Defensive player lock camera

Defensive camera

Show/Hide Pre-Play menu

Pump up crowd

DEFENSIVE (ENGAGED)

Pass rush finesse move

Disengage

Switch player

Pass rush power move

Hands up/Bat ball

Auto play/Defensive assist

DEFENSIVE (PURSUIT)

Conservative tackle

Precision breakdown tackle

Switch player

Aggressive tackle

(close)/

Dive tackle

(far)

Auto player/Defensive assist

Strip ball

Strafe


Hit stick

S button

A button

A button (hold) + right stick

F button

D button

Q button

E button

W button

R button (tap)

R button (hold)

C button

V button

Z button

X button

N button right stick C

S button left stick + direction

A button

F button

D button

Q button

S button

W button + S button

A button

F button

Q button

E button

W button

R button right stick

9

GAMEPLAY FEATURES

HIGH PASS

With this new mechanic, hold the Q button while throwing the ball to throw a high trajectory pass. This is great for throwing jump balls or just trying to throw over the defender(s).

LOW PASS

This new mechanic lets you to throw low trajectory passes by holding the

W button while throwing the ball. This comes in handy when trying to pick up a first down and complete the pass in between defenders.

TOUCH PASS

Another new mechanic lets you throw a medium touch pass by double tapping the button of the wide receiver you wish to pass to. This is best used when trying to lob over linebackers or just over a cornerback’s outstretched arms.

ROLL OUT LOCO

You can now make your quarterback enter a roll out (or throw on the run) locomotion by tapping the R button on a pass play at any point after the ball is snapped. (To exit the roll out loco, let go of any left stick input. To scramble, hold the R button.)

AGGRESSIVE CATCH

You can now force your wide receiver to play an aggressive type catch by holding the

D

button while the ball is in the air. This will give you a range of high point and highlight type catches that the receiver will play.

RAC CATCH

Have your wide receiver play a RAC type catch by holding the F button while the ball is in the air. This will give your receiver the opportunity to catch the ball while turning up field for chances of a bigger gain.

10

POSSESSION CATCH

Hold the S button while the ball is in the air to force your wide receiver to play a possession type catch. This will cause the receiver to make a falling catch or a safer catch to protect himself from a hit.

GET SKINNY

When you press the E button while the running back is hitting a run hole, the halfback will trigger a “Get Skinny” animation to help him squeeze through smaller holes.

QUICK INDIVIDUAL

DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS

You can now adjust the assignment for any specific defender on the field without having to click onto the defender you want to adjust. This is done using the following commands while on defense at the line of scrimmage (LOS):

Secondary

Adjustments

Press the D button to individually adjust players in your secondary who are on the field.

D Line

Adjustments

Linebacker

Adjustments

Press the Q button to adjust individual players on your D Line.

Press the E button to adjust your linebacker core players who are out on the field.

SPY CRASH

While on defense, you can make AI controlled defenders who are on a quarterback spy chase the quarterback by pressing the N button at any point once the ball is snapped. This will not work once the quarterback has thrown the ball.

11

GLOBAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENTS

Dictate the type of coverage technique you want your defenders to play:

Shade Underneath Puts defenders in a trail type of coverage where they’ll try to stay underneath the receivers they’re guarding.

Shade Over Top

Puts defenders in a coverage position where they’ll try to stay on top of their opponents. They might give up things underneath, but they won’t get beat going deep.

Shade Outside

Puts defenders in a better position to stop routes going toward the sideline while giving up space in the middle.

Shade Inside

Puts defenders in a better position to stop routes going toward the middle of the field while giving up space toward the sideline.

QUICK TIP:

Using this functionality mixed with individual coverage adjustments is a great way to throw off opponents who may be keen to your global coverage adjustments. You can learn individual coverage adjustments in Skills Trainer.

Protect the Sticks

This adjustment forces flat, hook, and buzz zone defenders to leverage any routes that are in front of the first down marker. Any affected defenders in zone assignments also make their zone drop point the first down marker. Press the

D

button followed by the

Q

button to activate this coverage adjustment.

Bluff Blitz

This defensive hot route can do several things based on the defenders’ locations on the field. When hot routed to bluff blitz, defenders on the line of scrimmage or in the tackle box will guard the halfback (if he is not already manned up) or drop into hook zone (if the halfback is manned up). Meanwhile, defenders not on the line of scrimmage or in the tackle box will make their initial moves like a blitzer before aborting to their previous assignments.

12

USER DEFENSIVE MECHANICS

Conservative Tackle Mechanic

Press the S button while the ball carrier is in your vision cone to engage the ball carrier in a non-big tackle animation. You can toggle the visual aspect of your vision cone on or off in the settings menu.

Aggressive Tackle Mechanic

When you’re playing as a defender, press the F button while the ball carrier is in your vision cone to engage the ball carrier in a big hit tackle animation—but this time, the vision cone will be smaller than the one for the conservative tackle mechanic!

Assisted Strafe Mechanic

This mechanic lets you align your defender with the ball carrier. While you’re near and in front of the ball carrier, hold the W button to automatically align with him and set yourself up to tackle. While in assisted strafe, you can only move left or right so that you stay in front of the ball carrier.

Pass Rush Mechanics

You no longer move the right stick to rush the quarterback. Now, you can press the

F button to perform power rush moves or the S button to perform finesse moves.

Pass Rush Initial Move Mechanic

Press the R button at the snap to perform pass rush initial moves. If you press the

R

button right as the ball is snapped, you’ll see a successful fast pass rush initial move that increases your odds of playing a successful win animation. If you press at the wrong time, you’ll see a slow initial move—and you probably won’t see the win animation this time, either.

13

PASSING

Purple Routes

When the running back has a purple route, he will either stay in to block if his man blitzes, or release out to a pass route if he doesn’t.

BLUFFING PLAY ART

To bluff your play calling during multiplayer games, press and hold the button that corresponds to the play you wish to select. This secretly selects the appropriate play. Continue to hold the button while you scroll through other plays in order to bluff your opponent, and then release the button to exit the play-calling screen.

FADED RECEIVER ICONS

Your receiver’s icon may be faded for the first few moments of the route before becoming more solid. This indicates your receiver’s awareness. Your receiver won’t be looking to catch the ball within the first five yards of a long streak pattern. A fully lit icon means your receiver is ready for a pass, but make sure he’s open before throwing the ball.

14

PLAYING THE GAME

GAME SCREEN

9 1

5

2

3

4

7

8 11

6

10

12

1. Away team

2. Home team

3. Possession

4. Score

5. Timeouts remaining

6. Play Art

7. Quarter

8. Time Remaining

9. Down and distance

10. Starting line

11. Play clock

12. Receiver icons

15

PAUSE MENU

Press the OPTIONS button during a game to access the pause menu.

Resume

Pick up where you last paused the game.

Give your team a rest and stop the game clock.

Call Timeout

Instant Replay

Highlights

Check out the previous play from various replay angles.

Look back at video highlights and replays from the course of the game.

Super Sim

Exit Game

Game Stats

Depth Chart

Challenge Play

Medical Center

Player

Performance

Skip forward one play, one drive, or even a whole quarter in the game. It’s only available when calling plays.

Leave the game or restart it from the opening kickoff.

All progress from the current game will be lost.

View all statistics that have accumulated in the game so far.

Manage your roster and move any player to the starting role.

Challenge the referee’s ruling on the field.

View all the injuries that have occurred during the game.

See how the players on the field are living up to their traits.

Offensive

Audibles

Set specific audibles for each formation in your playbook.

Settings

Adjust settings for the game, balance player and CPU skills for a more even or more challenging match up, toggle ON/OFF visual presentation options, adjust the volume, or see the controls.

Basic Controls

View the Basic Controls section of the in-game manual.

Controller Select

Bring another player into the game or switch the team you’re controlling.

16

MAIN MENU

Home Panel

Select to jump right into a game and see what’s new to Madden NFL 16.

Play Panel

Access Madden Ultimate Team (MUT), Franchise, the all-new Draft Champions, and Skills Trainer. Here you can also find Play Now, Online Head-to-Head, and

Practice, or replay the Opening Experience!

Customize Panel

Manage Rosters

A bevy of options are at your disposal inside Manage Rosters. Edit any team’s players or roster, whether it’s via trade, signing free agents, or actually editing an individual’s appearance, jersey number, or even ratings. Saving whatever changes you make to the roster is how you create custom rosters. You can always share these creations with the Madden NFL Community via Madden

Share or import them into your Franchise.

Customize Playbooks

Have you ever wished your favorite offensive playbook had more formations or plays that you’ve seen on other teams? Creating a custom playbook solves that problem. First, pick a base playbook that you are already familiar with, and then add any other play that is available in the game. You can also create a defensive custom playbook and even customize your set audibles while you create your custom playbook.

17

Settings

Adjust any and all gameplay settings such as play call style, difficulty level, sliders, and much more. You can also update your EA Account, assign your

Auto-Subs, check out the latest news, and look over a FAQ.

Share & Manage Files

Save, load, or delete any files in your possession as well as share your created custom playbook, roster, or sliders amongst the entire Madden NFL community.

Madden Loyalty

With the Gridiron Club, you can view your loyalty awards for playing previous

EA SPORTS titles. Playing previous titles earns you loyalty and is rewarded with

Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) coins.

Creation Center

Create new players and customize their uniform options. You can come here and customize pants, socks, or jerseys until everything is the way you want it.

Extras

Redeem any preorder bonus or promotion that may be associated with

Madden NFL 16, or check out the credits.

18

GAME MODES

FRANCHISE

What is Franchise?

Franchise is where gridiron legends are made. Take control of an active NFL

Player, Coach, or Owner, or create your own character as you aim for the Hall of

Fame and experience the highs (and lows, if you’re not careful) along the way. All of the excitement and drama of the NFL can be found—and lived—in Franchise.

What’s New in Franchise?

When first starting to play Franchise this year, you will notice that that the process is streamlined to start playing more quickly. You’ll first choose between Cloud and

Offline. Cloud has faster week advances and gives you the ability to access your league online as well as the freedom to invite your Friends. Offline still has the ability to create multiple offline characters and will save your league locally.

Once you select your team, you can either customize your experience further or start playing immediately. Customization includes where you can start your league that defaults into the regular season.

Goals

As you load into the game, notice the goals for your character and other players on your team. Completing these goals during the game will give you additional

XP and/or Confidence that will make your players perform better on the field.

At the beginning of each new drive, you will be presented with a Drive Goal that you can complete for bonus XP and/or Confidence. Specific goals will be tailored based on events in the current game to give you a unique challenge every time you play.

At the end of the play, you will notice XP and Confidence updates appearing next to your player as well as text to update you on completed goals. The ticker at the bottom of screen tracks your goal progress. Weekly Goals will be assigned based on completion of previous weekly goals and the rewards are much greater with additional Weekly Goals you accomplish altogether.

19

Hub

The Franchise Hub has been updated to be more straightforward so you can find what you want faster than ever. Your roster is now right at your fingertips on the new Team Panel, which is visible right next to your Things To Do.

You can now select any player on your team to see a quick overview of his attributes, view his goals and stats, or even purchase upgrades with his XP.

If you are playing in a Cloud Franchise, you can also quickly interact with your league members on the new Members panels. You can see their game status and whether they’re online. As a commissioner, you can also toggle Auto Pilot, clear cap penalties, and remove them from the league.

Scouting

Scouting has been reworked from the ground up in Madden NFL 16. Starting as a Coach or Owner in Week 3, you will see a Thing To Do item that instructs how to Scout. The basic concept is that you’ll spend Scouting Points on a player, learn more about their abilities, and decide whether you want to draft them in the upcoming NFL Draft. The Scouting Points unlock the player’s top three attributes with the third unlock providing their true draft value. Additionally, you will find “Diamonds” and “Overvalued” players in the draft class by spending

Scouting Points on them before the NFL Draft.

These new features and helpful information will assist in your Scouting decisions while immediately teaching you what type of player they are with the new player feedback screen.

Sim-a-Win

As a commissioner, you are able to influence wins by using the League

Schedule. For any game that hasn’t been played, you can set who will be the winning team. Sim-a-Win will give you control that has never been available in the past and allows you to craft the season of your dreams.

20

Game Prep

Game Prep gives you control over every facet of your team’s preparation against future opponents through a variety of activities. For Game Prep, you are given a certain number of hours to allocate improvements, and it’s up to you to decide what to focus on each week. There are three primary types of activities and Drills you can choose from:

Earn XP

As an Owner or Coach, select an activity involving a specific position group or player to earn experience points that can be used to progress their attributes. As a Player, work on gaining experience points for your own character.

Confidence Drills As an Owner or Coach, you’ll have the opportunity to increase the Confidence rating of your players. Install

Schemes for a small boost to each player, or focus more heavily on a certain group or player for a bigger

Confidence boost. As a player, you’re only going to be worried about increasing your own Confidence rating.

In-Game Drills

Similar to Madden NFL’s Skills Trainer, this is your chance to get some one-on-one time with your players.

You’ll demonstrate their abilities on the field and learn the intricacies and controls for specific techniques.

For instance, as a Coach or Owner, you can take your quarterback through a lesson where he’ll learn how to recognize a Cover 3 defense, and passing the drill rewards them with XP. As a Player, you’ll find drills tailored to your position; for instance, as a cornerback, you might learn how to become a Ball Hawk.

Free Practice

Use Free Practice as a Coach or Owner to take your team on the field and experiment with your team for as long as you want. When Game Prep is available during the week,

Free Practice can also be used at no additional cost. It’s a great way to get an overview of how your team plays if you want to stay ahead of the curve in your league.

21

Confidence Rating

Game Prep’s Confidence Drills gives each of your players a Confidence rating that adjusts based on team performance, signing top free agents, or winning home games. Confidence can also decrease when you lose home games or trade away a great player. A confident team is more likely to perform well and a less confident team is not. As a Player, focus on building your character’s

Confidence rating to ensure you make the most of your on-field opportunities.

Randomized Draft Classes with Branching Storylines

Players are completely randomized from the ground up, including everything from player attributes and names to height and weight. Build your team knowing you’re the only player in the world with that exact roster!

The best part of these draft classes is they retain a key immersive feature from previous years: Branching Storylines! Each year, your draft class will feature all the twists and turns real NFL Draft prospects experience throughout their final year(s) of college. There’s even a chance an underclassman you’ve been scouting decides to stay in school for his senior year and you’ll have to choose another prospect. All of the unpredictability that you expect, you can find in Madden NFL 16.

Multiple Advance Points

Have you ever wanted to be an armchair General Manager and only worry about the offseason with free agency and the NFL Draft? Maybe you’d like to go to the playoffs right after you clinch the top seed in your conference? Now you can, thanks to multiple advance points. But don’t worry if you’d like to play each week of the year like you’re used to, because the standard week-to-week method is still available in Madden NFL 16.

Commissioner Tools

Madden NFL 16 features tools for Commissioners to use at their disposal, giving leagues more control than ever before over how they are run.

Designate

Auto-Pilot Length

If you know you’ll be out of town or unavailable for an extended amount of time, you can now set yourself or other users to auto-pilot for multiple weeks. This feature is also available for league members and not strictly limited to Commissioners.

Multiple

Commissioners

Running a multiple-user Online Franchise can be extremely time-consuming—but life can happen at any moment.

Franchise understands that. Now, you’ll have the option to designate another user as a second Commissioner, making sure your league never has to worry if you’re not available to advance the week. This feature can be added and removed by the original Commissioner.

22

Short-Term Injured Reserve

When an injured player is placed on Short-Term Injured Reserve (IR), he is eligible to return after eight weeks. You have the same ability, which is great for Coaches and Owners who want to hold onto a player without forcing him to miss the entire season.

32-Player Control (Offline)

In the offline Franchise mode, you can control one character from each of the 32 franchises. For example, you can be the owner of the Jacksonville

Jaguars, the head coach of the San Diego Chargers, and the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Rams.

Media Statements

Throughout the season, you’re going to answer questions from the media, setting the tone for the entire fan base. If you guarantee a Super Bowl and miss the playoffs, your fans will be calling for your job! You’ll be notified when it’s time to address the media in the Actions tab.

Owner Mode

Select a backstory if you choose to start as a created owner. Backstories provide an identity to your character and also have an in-game impact. The three backstories for an owner are:

Former Player

Lifelong Fan

Gives you an advantage when it comes to team popularity, starting you off with $3 million in available funds.

Gives you an advantage with fans, starting you off with

$3 million in available funds.

Financial Mogul

Gives you an advantage financially as you’ll start with

$7 million in funds, but you’ll start with no Legacy score and player happiness will be low.

Revenue

Who doesn’t want to be the owner making the most money in the league?

Having a successful team that performs well on game day while making all the right business decisions will help propel you up the revenue leaderboard.

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Advisors

It’s easy to become overwhelmed as an owner, so an advisor is available from every aspect of Owner mode to help you out and keep you updated on everything that’s going down.

Price Setting

Owners have the power to set the prices of tickets, concessions, and merchandise. Are you in a situation where you aren’t selling out your home games? You might have to lower your ticket prices to lure customers back through the doors. Perhaps your stadium is at maximum capacity and you have the urge to hike up concessions.

The options are endless, but you can be sure your fans will let you know how you’re treating them. You can begin altering prices by going to the Owner tab and navigating to the Finances advisor.

Team Value

Team Value is determined by how you rank in eight different categories.

Having the highest Team Value is a distinction that every owner in the

NFL would love to boast. The eight categories that affect your overall

Team Value are Fan Happiness, Team Success, Popularity, Staff, Stadium,

Concession, Merchandise, and Tickets.

The owner who ranks first in Team Value needs to be well-rounded in every facet of the game. It’s also important to note the signing bonus you allocate to free agents or players from your own team when you re-sign them is pulled from the funds that help make up your Team Value.

Team Popularity

Team Popularity is a key component when it comes to understanding how you’re earning revenue. There are three different levels of popularity:

National, Regional, and Local. The four factors that play the biggest role in determining your Team Popularity are Team Success, Fan Happiness,

Primetime Wins, and Market Size.

Having success on Monday or Sunday night as well as in the playoffs will pay huge rewards in your National popularity. Having a high National popularity equates to more jersey sales and you can start accumulating the extra dollars it takes to bring in that key free agent or renovate your stadium.

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Staff Hiring

Having a solid staff not only benefits your team’s success but also affects your fan happiness. A great staff starts with a Head Coach. Should you happen to need a new Head Coach, look to make a big splash by signing one with a high coaching level. A high coaching level translates to more scouting points, which creates more thorough scouting than the rest of the league. Next, you’ll need a

Scout. If you’re an owner who loves to discover a wide receiver’s speed, find a

Scout who specializes in WR Speed and you’ll be able to scout that attribute at a discount. The last piece to a great staff is the Trainer who manages to slow regression and build players back up after returning from an injury.

Fan Happiness

Staying up to date with your fan base is crucial for your overall success as an owner. They’ll make their voices heard when things are going well and be even more vocal if something isn’t meeting their standards. You can quickly gauge your fan base by going to the Owner tab and meeting with the Fan Happiness advisor.

Marketing

Knowing how popular your team and players are is a vital tool when it comes to earning more revenue. The Marketing advisor will inform you on where your team stands compared to the rest of the league and even whose jersey is selling the most. Jersey sales are determined by a player’s personality rating, age, overall, and position.

Stadium Upgrades

Keeping your stadium up to date with the latest and greatest technology will keep your fans coming back and paying top dollar. You can choose to renovate or upgrade various parts of the stadium. If things are really bad, you can even choose to rebuild the stadium from the ground up.

Relocate

In case things just aren’t working out or you feel the grass is greener on the other side, you can opt to relocate your entire franchise to a different city.

There are several cities to choose from, and some might even help pay for you to pack up the moving trucks.

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Choose City

Relocating the franchise is a four-step process. Where you’ll be moving is the first important decision. The 17 eligible cities to relocate to are:

` London, England

` Los Angeles, California

` Mexico City, Mexico

` Toronto, Canada

` San Antonio, Texas

` Orlando, Florida

` Salt Lake City, Utah

` Brooklyn, New York

` Memphis, Tennessee

` Chicago, Illinois

` Sacramento, California

` Columbus, Ohio

` Portland, Oregon

` Austin, Texas

` Dublin, Ireland

` Houston, Texas

` Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Choose Name

The next week you’ll have to decide on a team name and logo. You’ll have the option to retain the current team name of the franchise or pick from a list of three new names that cater to the city you’re moving to. Be sure to take into account the Fan Interest of each name.

Choose Uniform

Next, choose what your team will wear from a Classic, Modern, or Traditional style uniform. Again, it’s important to also consider what the popular choice is as it will affect how excited your new fan base will be.

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Choose Stadium

Finally, it’s time to select a stadium you can call home. There are 16 stadiums ranging in both style and cost. You might be able to pay off the Basic Canopy

Stadium the quickest, but you run the risk of not attracting as many fans to the field if you disregard the more luxurious options.

Roster Building

Personality Rating Helps determine how marketable the player is. The more marketable the player, the better chance he’ll have of becoming a top-10 selling jersey in the NFL, which, of course, means more money for the owner.

Physical Rating

Calculated from a player’s physical ratings, player type, and position. For example, a wide receiver’s physical rating would weigh heavier on speed, agility, jumping, and catching, whereas an offensive lineman is weighed on run, pass, and impact blocking.

Intangible Rating Calculated from a player’s intangible ratings. Player type and position are also taken into consideration. For example, a quarterback’s intangible rating would be weighed heavier on short, medium, and deep accuracy, while a defensive end is weighed on block shedding, power, and finesse moves.

Size Rating

Calculated from the height and weight of a player while also factoring their position and player type. For example, a Power RB who is 6’0” and 247 lbs. would have a 99 size rating. If he were a Speed HB, his size grade would be considerably lower.

Production Rating Calculated from the player’s season and career stats, position, and age. It is important to understand that a rookie will enter with a production rating of zero, but this increases as he begins to produce on the field.

Durability Rating Injury, stamina, and toughness are all factored in when determining the durability rating. The player’s age and position are also taken into consideration.

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Player Types & Schemes

It is important to understand which scheme your team runs and what player type they look for during specific positions.

As each NFL team evaluates players differently, it’s essential to know what piques their interest and inspires them to value you even higher. For example, if you’re a receiving back looking to crack into the Arizona Cardinals starting lineup, you may find yourself buried on the depth chart. The Cardinals are a

Power Run offense, looking for a Power HB. Your overall rating will be lower in that system than it will be in Philadelphia, who is looking for a Receiving HB.

Offseason

Re-Signing Players

During the regular season, you’ll notice pending free agents who want to start negotiations on a new deal. If you decide against negotiating in the middle of the season, you’ll have one last opportunity to re-sign your own free agents to-be at this stage of the offseason. Before you choose to re-sign a player, remember that during the offseason, it’s important to understand your team’s finances because you’ll have to choose if it’s best to re-sign a player, use the franchise tag, or opt to replenish the roster in free agency or the draft.

If you do decide to enter into negotiations with one of your players at this stage, make sure it’s an offer that suits both you and the player. If the player declines to sign the deal, he’ll be off to test the open free agent market, so make your first offer count!

Free Agency Bidding

After having a chance to re-sign your own free agents, you’ll then have your pick of the litter in free agency. This free-agency period is a time when teams can beef up their roster in a hurry—assuming your team has plenty of salary cap space and that the right free agents are on the market.

You’ll first notice each player has a current market value, which essentially tells you what you can expect to pay for the services of that player. You’ll also notice the logos from other teams in the NFL; these are all the teams that have an interest in that player.

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Contract Offers

After offering your initial contract to the free agents who you’ve targeted, you’ll have to advance the week to get an update on the player. Go back into the free agency screen and sort by My Negotiations for a quick view of all the players you are attempting to sign.

At this point, you’ll see whether the player has decided to sign with you, accepted another team’s offer, or is still deciding. If the player has not made a decision, you have the option to increase your offer, pull your offer, or keep it as is. Free agency lasts four weeks so make sure you keep an eye on everything.

Draft

After the free agency period has ended, it’s off to the NFL Draft!

From this hub, you’ll see the draft order plus a list of actions you can take.

While another team is on the clock, you can offer a trade to that team and move up in the draft order, take a look at the overall draft board, or advance the draft. Sticking around and watching the action unfold has never felt as alive as it does in Madden NFL 16.

You’ll see messages start flying in as sports personalities react to the most recent selection. Also, as previously mentioned, certain players have branching storylines, and their paths to the draft will be told by the voices of Trey Wingo and Adam Schefter once a player has been selected. However, if you’re looking to speed up the process, you can advance to the next user pick to bypass all draft selections by the AI.

Signing Rookies

This task is automatically completed for you as a way to replicate the new way rookie contracts are constructed in the NFL.

Playing as a Coach

Coach Progression

Each coach in Madden NFL 16 has a Coach Level. It begins at Level 1 and can reach Level 30. If you create a coach, you’ll enter the league as a Level 1; this gives you easier team goals, but you’ll be paying full price for packages. As you begin to have success, you start to level up. A Level 30 coach will have extremely high team goals based on their success, but they can purchase packages at a discounted price.

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Spending XP

Spending XP as a coach is much different than spending it as a player. As a coach, you’ll have the option to spend your XP on packages that decrease the odds of a player retiring, make it easier for you to re-sign a player, boost the amount of XP a particular position earns, or even increase the amount of

Scouting Points you earn every week.

Progressing Players

As a coach, not only can you accrue XP and Scouting Points to use for yourself, but your players will also earn XP based on their in-game performance and their set of personal goals. You can choose to apply that XP yourself or allow the AI to do it for you.

The benefits of applying XP on your own is that you can start to shape your players based on how you want them to fit into your system. If you want the smartest team in the league, use all of your XP on Awareness and Play

Recognition. However, if you just want to beef up the weaknesses of players on your team to make them well-rounded contributors, you can go that route as well. The choice is yours to make.

Of course, applying XP to every player on your roster can be time consuming.

In that case, you can choose to spend the XP of key players, and then delegate the AI to apply everyone else’s XP. Not only does this save time, but it also ensures that everyone is using the XP they have earned.

Playing as a Player

Creating a Player

Play as an active NFL player, or create your own character. New in

Madden NFL 16 is the ability to see where you’ll place on the depth chart of each team as you choose your team franchise.

Backstory

The three options for a player backstory are: Early Draft Pick, Late Round

Pick, and Undrafted. Playing as an early draft pick will give you the highest possible ratings for a rookie, but you’ll also have much higher on-field expectations than an undrafted rookie.

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Goals

Season, Weekly, and Milestone are the three types of goals you have as a player.

Reach your goals to earn XP, which you use to improve your player attributes.

Spending XP

You begin to accumulate XP throughout the season based on your on-field performance. Once you have enough XP, you can buy packages to boost any player’s ratings.

Retirement

You can retire your player at any time. This gives you the option to select a new player, Coach, or Owner and pick up at the same exact point in the season or year in which you left.

Legacy Score

All awards from MVP to Super Bowl championships count toward your

Legacy Score. The Legacy Score determines how you’re judged against the greatest NFL players in history—you’ll need a high enough Legacy score to end up in the Hall of Fame!

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DRAFT CHAMPIONS

Starting your Draft Champions Campaign

Select DRAFT CHAMPIONS from the main menu to get started. You can view information covering basics of Draft Champions and choose what type of draft you would like to participate in, such as Solo Draft or Head-to-Head Draft. In

Solo Draft, you compete against the CPU; in Head-to-Head Draft, you compete against other users to earn even greater rewards.

Draft Functionality

The draft consists of 15 rounds, starting with a chance to pick your coach. This can help define the tone for the rest of your draft picks, depending on how you like to play football—your coach’s Team Style and Playbooks will automatically be selected with him.

After selecting a Coach, you begin drafting players. On the first page, a player’s Overall rating and Team Style are displayed. Press the E or

Q button to turn the page and view the player’s Key Attributes for that position, along with their Team Style bonus. Press the F button to compare the highlighted player with other players in that position, and press the

S button to confirm your player selection.

Each selected player is added to your base team in the Lineup, adjusting the Team

Style and OVR. You can review your completed team on the Summary screen.

Team Styles

Coaches have four Team Styles on offense and defense, which boost Key Attributes for your players. To see more information about the Coach’s Team Styles, press the

E or Q button to flip through pages and learn the impact of each Style.

The Base Team

In Draft Champions, you’ll start with a base team that provides the essentials to build on your selections in the draft. You’ll have one lower-rated player at each position.

The Hub

After completing the Draft, you’ll enter the Draft Championship hub. Here, you can customize your lineup further in Adjust Lineup, view your Coaching &

Equipment information, or track your status on the Progress screen.

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MADDEN ULTIMATE TEAM (MUT)

What is Madden Ultimate Team (MUT)?

Welcome to the fantasy football mode where you create your Madden Ultimate

Team (MUT). You’ll receive a team of starter players and can choose one of eight Team Styles to be your initial focus.

Collect

Collect players and other items with Auctions and packs available to purchase in the Store, or earned in specific game modes. Play games to earn coins (the in-game currency). Spend real cash in exchange for points to redeem for packs and bundles.

Upgrade

Upgrade your team with new items you’ve acquired. Don’t forget to use the

Trade Block to exchange extra or unwanted items with other players for items you actually need.

Dominate

Dominate on the Gridiron in Solo Challenges and 10-game head-to-head

Seasons tournaments featuring playoffs, multiple levels, and even Super Bowls.

New Ultimate Moments in Solo challenges

Ultimate Moments are Solo Challenges that begin with a game in progress. You will be dropped right into this season’s most exciting games with the ability to recreate or change history—experience some of the NFL’s most exciting moments!

Diving Into Madden Ultimate Team (MUT)

To get started, select ULTIMATE TEAM from the Play panel, choose your team’s uniform and a free style pack based on how you want to dominate out on the field. If you like to throw the bomb, choose the Long Pass Style Pack. If you want to control the clock and grind the yards, choose the Ground and Pound.

Don’t worry about these options; you can change your Team Style later.

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What is Style?

Individual players and coaches bring their own style bonuses to your team, and those are combined into an overall Team Style rating that boosts key attributes for your players. There are four Team Styles on offense and four on defense:

Offensive Styles

` Short Pass

` Long Pass

` Ground and Pound

` Speed Run

Defensive Styles

` Pass Rush

` Run Stuff

` Man Coverage

` Zone Coverage

Each style boosts your team in one particular play strategy. For example, Pass

Rush helps your defenders shed blocks and pursue the ball carrier. Your team is limited to one style choice until you achieve a team overall rating (OVR) of at least

85. This unlocks a second Team Style, letting you customize your team even more.

How Do I Upgrade My Team?

Play Solo Challenge games against the CPU to earn coins to spend on items and packs in the Store. You can also earn coins by selling items in the Auction

House, or using the quicksell value on any item from your Item Binder.

What’s a Pack?

A pack contains several random items you can collect to upgrade your team.

Most packs include several player items and also a few non-player items such as playbooks, uniforms, coaches, collectibles, or stadiums. You may earn packs as loyalty rewards or rewards for Sets, Seasons, or Solo Challenges. You can also buy individual packs or bundles of packs in the Store.

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What’s a Tier?

Tier is the measure of an item’s quality. Items of higher tiers are typically more powerful or useful than those of lower tiers. Items are color-coded by tier so you can easily judge their quality.

Elite items aren’t found in every pack, but sometimes an elite item replaces a gold item. A few packs or bundles may include guaranteed elite tier items, as their descriptions will explain in the Store.

What’s a Program?

Some items are part of a program. There are many programs offered throughout the year such as Draft or Playoff. Each program has a special group of items tied to a central theme, and special events like Solo Challenges or Sets are often based on a program. You can filter your item searches by program in the Item Binder, Auctions, and Trades.

Now, let’s examine each tab in the mode and see what’s available to help upgrade your team!

Live

From the MUT menu, select the Live tab to find special announcements about content updates for the mode. You’ll see new Solo Challenges and Sets to collect appearing several times a week. Make sure to check out new events regularly to find the best players to upgrade your team with.

Objectives

The Live tab presents helpful tasks to teach you about Ultimate Team Objectives.

You’ll receive a reward for completing all tasks, so be sure to finish them all and be on the lookout for new lists throughout the season. Objective tasks include gaining specified stats and even completing Solo Challenges or Sets.

Play

The Play tab allows you to play with your MUT. Solo Challenges are singleplayer games against teams controlled by the CPU. Head-to-Head Seasons are ongoing tournaments where you can play against other random MUT players.

You can also play a Friend in a head-to-head game from the Play tab.

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Solo Challenges

There are many categories of Solo Challenges to play, with four levels of difficulty and varying quarter lengths. Select a Solo Challenge to see all the details about it. Some Solo Challenges have entry requirements based on collectibles or Team Style ratings. Start with the Preseason games and progress into the Regular Season to begin earning coins and item rewards.

New Solo Challenges are added all the time, so check the Live hub often to find them. You can also continue right where you left off with the Continue

Solo Challenges Tile in the MUT hub.

Head-to-Head Seasons

Head-to-Head Seasons provide tournament experiences with a series of

10-game seasons against other random MUT players. Win enough games in a season and you might make the playoffs and advance to the next level.

There are eight levels in all, and each one has its own playoffs and Super Bowl.

You’ll earn coins and item rewards along the way.

Start a Seasons tournament today, and complete the games at your own pace; there’s no time limit! Play a little or play a lot, and you’ll always match up with a player with similar skills and OVR.

Marketplace

On the Marketplace tab, you’ll find a featured offer along with access to the

Store, Auction House, and Trade Block.

Store

Purchase items with the coins you’ve earned from Solo Challenges and

Auctions, or the points you’ve bought. You’ll find several different kinds of packs at various prices. Each pack includes a number of random items with the chance to find a high-quality elite player.

You’ll also find pack bundles that provide a bulk purchase discount. Some large pack bundles come with a guaranteed elite player as a special bonus. Visit the

Store often to find special limited-time promotions and sales.

What Are Points?

You can purchase points with real cash and redeem them for bundles and other special items.

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Auction House

You can access Auctions & Trades from the Marketplace tab to buy and sell items with other players. This is a great way to find the items you need, or turn unused items into coins. You can search Auctions by type, tier, position, team, style, and overall player rating. Time remaining in the Auction is displayed for each item, so plan your strategy accordingly. When someone places a bid with less than 20 seconds left, the auction timer will reset to 20 seconds.

To place one of your items in the Auction House, bring up the Item Viewer and choose AUCTION. You can determine the duration, starting price, and buy it now price for your item auction. Some items may be assessed an auction fee.

You can examine your posted auctions and active bids from the

Auctions & Trade hub as well.

Trade Block

The Trade Block lets you exchange items with other players. You may get a great deal by trading an item that’s not in your lineup but might be useful to another player, and receiving something valuable to you in return. You can search the Trade Block in the same way you searched the Auction House. To post an item, select TRADE from the Item Viewer. Describe what you want with duration, type, tier, position, team, style, or rating. Once an offer is made, decide whether to accept it and complete the trade, or decline it.

Manage the trades you’ve posted and the offers you’ve made from the

Auctions & Trade hub.

Team

The Team tab helps you manage all aspects of your team. You can visit your

Lineup, adjust your Coaching and Equipment, and manage contracts and styles with Team Management.

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Lineup

Select ADJUST LINEUP to examine your Lineup. Choose a player to move up and down between specific chart positions; select a player to see possible substitutions.

Choose Team Options to edit your Team Style, or use Best Lineup to have the CPU automatically generate your team based on overall rating or style. Page left or right to see other stats of your team, such as Offense, Defense, and Specialist.

Contracts

Your players and coaches need contracts to play games. Each game played uses up one contract for that player or coach. In the Item Viewer on the key attributes page, you can view the remaining contracts for each player or coach. You can extend contracts from there, or extend the contracts of your head coach and all the players in your lineup on the Team Management screen found in the Team tab.

Items

On the Items tab, you can view and manage all the items you own. You can flip through your Item Binder filters and sort tools options. Check out your unopened packs on the Items tab, and examine all the Sets available as well.

Item Binder

Use the filters to help find the items you’re looking for, and sort with the dropdown list in the upper right corner. Select an item to view with the Item Viewer, which provides many actions such as Compare, Promote to Starter, Extend

Contracts, Add to Set, Auction, Trade, or Quicksell. Flip through the pages of details on each item including key attributes, style bonus, and description.

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Sets

From the Items tab, Sets (formerly known as “collections”) are a great way to earn coins and item rewards for any of the items in your collection. Browse through the different Sets to examine their requirements and rewards. The

Item Viewer has an Add to Set option, or you can examine the Set to see which of your items can be added. You can also search the Auction House to fill the

Set and you’ll automatically receive the reward when the last required item is added. New Sets are added every week so check back often!

How to Succeed in MUT

Coins are the in-game currency of MUT, and are rewarded for winning games and completing Sets. You can use coins to purchase packs in the Store or bid on items in the Auction House. Points are new this year, and you can purchase them with real cash and then redeem them for special items like bundles.

Earn more coins by completing Solo Challenges, finishing Sets, or selling items in the Auction House. You can also quicksell many of the items you’re not currently using to earn a few coins. Every day there are new events added to the mode, and you can find out about all the most recent news on the Live hub when you enter MUT.

Now that you have a feel for the mode, it’s time to learn about the items you can collect to build your team. Here are a few basic categories:

Players

Players make up the lineup of your Ultimate Team. Over 1,400 players from all 32 NFL teams are available for you to collect, including some legendary players from the past. Players have an overall rating (OVR), a preferred position, contracts, style bonus, and many other attributes that directly affect their play on the field.

While viewing a single item, you can page through several views to see key attributes, the item’s Style bonus, and other important information.

Team Items

You’ll also find Head Coach, uniform, stadium, and playbook items in most packs to customize your team in many ways (although only head coaches and playbooks affect gameplay). When you change your home uniform, your favorite team is also changed to match throughout the Ultimate Team mode.

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Collectibles

Collectibles are special items you’ll find in packs that represent key plays, important victories, and all kinds of football-related items and events. You can’t add them to your lineup, but you can view them in the Item Binder. Collectibles are often used to complete Sets for coin and item rewards. Sometimes you’ll find a collectible that you can quicksell for 500 coins or more.

Head Coach

You’ll need a Head Coach before your team can take the field. In addition to his overall rating, the primary function of your Head Coach is to add his style bonus to your Team Style total, and you’ll also see him on the sideline during games. Make sure that your Head Coach’s Team Style matches a style you prefer in case you make a change.

ONLINE HEAD-TO-HEAD

If you like the thrill of competing against another person, then Online

Head-to-Head is the place for you. Jump into the mix with Quick Match games and a new matchmaking system that will keep you competing against people who play similar to you.

New Matchmaking Screen

The matchmaking screen has been upgraded, and you’ll select your team before the matchmaking process begins. You will also notice a new confidence meter, which displays how confident we are in matching you against an equal opponent. The more games you play, the higher our confidence will be.

Quick Match

A Quick Match game searches for another person to compete against you in a ranked game. Winning ranked games will earn you Ranking Points, which determine your Leaderboard rank.

If you want to play a more friendly game but none of your Madden NFL 16

Friends are online, press the F button on the Online Head-to-Head panel and switch your Game Type to an “Unranked” game.

Play a Friend

If a Friend is online, send an invite and challenge them to a friendly game of

Madden NFL 16. This mode allows you to customize the game settings.

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Leaderboards

Want to see how your record stacks up against the entire online Madden

Community? Check out the leaderboards and see who’s dominating the online

Gridiron. Choose from four different leaderboards:

Top 100

Shows the top 100 ranked Online Head-to-Head players.

My Leaderboard

If you’ve achieved a ranking (only the top 100,000 players do), this leaderboard will show where you ranked with 50 people ranked above you and below you.

Friends

Stats Leaders

The Friends leaderboard displays how you rank against

Friends based on the number of Ranking Points each of you has earned.

Compare how you rank against other Madden players in a variety of offensive and defensive stat categories.

Lobbies

If you’re looking for a place where your Friends can meet and chat online before starting a game, or just want to create a room where other Madden players can congregate, check out the Lobbies area.

Compare Stats

The Compare Stats screen allows you to compare a variety of stats between you and another person, scout their playing tendencies, and view the results of your last 20 games.

Depth Chart

If you’re not happy with your starters and want to change the team lineup, visit the Depth Chart screen before starting a game. Depth Chart changes made on this screen will automatically save to your “Official” roster file, so you won’t have to pause and update your Depth Chart before every online game. Be sure to readdress this after each roster update!

Customize

The Customize sub-menu contains options for updating your roster, changing your online settings, and editing your quick messages used while chatting in lobbies.

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GATORADE™ SKILLS TRAINER

Gatorade

™

Skills Trainer is designed to improve your Madden skills. Learn key gameplay mechanics, real-world football concepts, and what to expect on game days. Perform well during drills and complete categories with a minimum of a

Bronze medal level to unlock MUT reward packs.

Once you have mastered everything, make sure you run the Gauntlet! This will test your skills in every area of Gatorade Skills Trainer while also throwing in some special boss levels to keep you on your toes.

PLAY NOW

Play Now starts an exhibition one-on-one game between you and a Friend or the CPU. It’s the traditional way of playing Madden NFL 16. You have the ability to change settings like quarter length, difficulty, and play calling style.

PRACTICE

Practice provides an open field where you can work on mastering the three phases of football: offense, defense, and special teams. Practice is great for working on new plays and techniques before they count on game day.

SUPERBOWL 50

Live the excitement of Superbowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium! Jump into the game as one of the two leading teams and see if you have what it takes to win the day.

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OTHER ONLINE FEATURES

MADDEN MESSENGER

Messenger Inbox

The Inbox icon is your gateway into the

Madden Messenger. You can find it on the main menu as well as the main menus for Franchise, Online Head-to-Head, Draft

Champions, and MUT modes.

When you have new items waiting to be viewed inside of the Messenger, the Inbox icon will display the number of new items next to it. Press the

N button to open the Messenger and start browsing the Notification and

Social Feed lists for your new items.

Messenger Previews

Whenever you receive a new Notification or Social Feed item, a preview of that item will animate onscreen to notify you. Previews can appear anywhere in the game—including while you’re playing—so you’ll always be getting the latest information when you need it.

Notifications

Notification items inform you about events that are important to your

Madden experience and can be viewed from the Notification list inside of the

Messenger. Each Notification displays an icon associated with the type of event it pertains to, a title, and a description of the event when you highlight the item.

Selecting any Notification will take you directly from the Messenger to the screen mentioned in the description.

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Social Feed

The Social Feed list is where you can browse all of the cool things that your

Friends are doing in Madden NFL 16. Social Feed items show the avatar of the Friend that they belong to and allow you to link directly into the same experience they’re sharing with you.

Settings

If at any point you feel like you’re being overwhelmed with Notifications or Social Feed items from a particular mode, visit the Settings list in the

Messenger. Here, you can control which modes you’re receiving updates from and turn off those particular settings as desired.

MUSIC LIST

Want to switch songs to give your experience a new background track?

Sort through your Music List in the Madden Messenger, checkmarking songs you want to hear and unchecking those you want to leave out.

Highlight a song and press the F button to play it.

SOCIAL SHARING

Madden Friends

When you enable sharing with your Madden Friends, they’ll receive updates on all the cool things you’re doing in Madden through their Social Feed in the

Madden Messenger. They might see when you post a new Madden Ultimate

Team (MUT) auction, when you achieve an Online Head-to-Head ranking greater than 50 percent of all ranked players, or that you’ve just created a new online

Franchise league, among other things.

COACHGLASS

CoachGlass is a second-screen experience that gives you the most useful information about you and your opponent, tracking both offensive and defensive tendencies. These will help you select better plays and counter what your opponent is doing on the other side of the ball.

While you’re on offense during the play call state, you’ll see how much time your opponent plays man or zone or blitzes you for personnel grouping. Having this data is important if you’re going to anticipate what might be coming!

After selecting a play, you can see even more information, including situational data. This data is historical, meaning it’s based on stats that your opponent has accumulated from every game they’ve played.

You’ll also notice features such as Play History and Suggestions. These tools can give you a deeper understanding of your opponent and even suggests play calls for you to select from your device, which will go straight to your console.

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NEED HELP?

The EA Worldwide Customer Experience team is here to ensure you get the most out of your game—anytime, anywhere.

` Online Support & Contact Info For FAQs, help articles, and to contact us, please visit help.ea.com.

` Twitter & Facebook Support Need a quick tip? Reach out on

Twitter to @askeasupport or post on facebook.com/askeasupport.

“PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks and the PS4 logo is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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