Having been out for a few weeks now, the time has come for Madden 26 to receive its first Title Update of the game cycle. The Title Update will be released on August 28 and is quite extensive.
While this update leans heavily on stability and gameplay tuning, it also introduces some cool new additions, such as international stadiums and a custom playbook collaboration with former NFL QB Kurt Benkert. At the heart of the update, however, are what Madden fans clamor for the most — gameplay improvements. Zone cover logic has been given an overhaul in an effort to make defensive playcalling more reliable and realistic. Franchise, Superstar, and Ultimate Team also see meaningful bug fixes and some extra polish, ensuring a smoother experience across all modes.
Below is the complete list of patch notes for Title Update 1 in Madden 26. If you wish to visit the source itself, check it out here.
Madden 26 Title Update 1 – Patch Notes
Gameplay
- Cover 2 Tampa – The middle defender now gets deeper, maintaining better leverage position against deep threats, especially vs. 3×1 formations.
- Cover 2 Hard Flats – Addressed an issue with Hard Flats where defenders were dropping too deep and too far inside before reacting to flat routes. Defenders now drop more accurately with their zone responsibilities, improving coverage consistency in the shallow flats.
- Cover 3 Match: Logic improvements for Defenders when reacting to Slot WRs attempting to outleverage the defense on deep routes. This includes Buzz Mable and Zone Blitz 3 playcalls
- Cover 6 & Cover 4 Palms – Fixed an issue where Outside Quarters CBs in Cover 6 and Cover 4 Palms were oftentimes losing the press giving up easy touchdowns. We adjusted the CBs alignment so they will no longer attempt to press the WR.
- Zone coverage defenders now drop back quicker when shading coverage ‘overtop’.
- Fixed a post play animation defect where a defender would do “read steps” when standing in place after the whistle.
- Addressed a visual issue around the previous play graphic obscuring the offensive play call formation.
- A customized playbook developed by former NFL QB and DimeLab founder Kurt Benkert called “Benkert’s Dimes” has also been added to Play Now.
Presentation
- Added 3 international stadiums to Play Now, Franchise, and Superstar:
- Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany
- Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain
- Dublin Stadium in Ireland
- Fixed crash and stability issues.
Franchise
- Addressed our UI Transitions surrounding the Player Card. Reducing the transition time it takes to go into the Player Card.
- Dev Notes: This current fix only addresses going into the Player Card. Our resolution for exiting out of the player card back to the Franchise Main Menu will be in our next TU.
- Resolved an issue allowing commissioners to send multiple league invites simultaneously.
- Addressed an issue that prevented Edge Players from adding Pass Rushing Traits
- Addressed an issue during the Draft where the Draft Board was improperly transparent, showing through to the background.
According to the developer notes, the following issues are not addressed in Title Update 1, but will be addressed in the next one:
- Class Import Process incorrectly modifying Player Body Types, specifically Offensive Linemen.
- Players on IR unable to be peeled off the IR list.
- Nose Tackle archetypes displaying a different OVR in the front end.
Superstar Mode
- Fumble rate chance has been decreased in Snow Games.
- Fixed an issue where players would play in the wrong position.
- Fixed a rare issue where players’ knees would be invisible during the NFL Combine.
- Several stability fixes.
Ultimate Team
- Play A Friend will now respect each individual users passing settings
- Remedied an issue where opening a Fantasy Pack after a H2H game caused visual artifacts during the pack open
- Fixed an issue where rewards images failed to appear on some screens
- Fixed multiple occasions where players were navigated to the wrong menu
- Fixed a text issue where “Rank Down” appeared instead of “Rank Up”
- Fixed an issue where progress in Ranked was not visually displaying
- Fixed multiple occasions of overlapping text
- Fixed an occasional crash when returning to lobbies
- Items displayed during presentation did not always match their actual rarity
Audio
- Fixed an issue where commentary referred to a few rookies by an incorrect last name.
