After years of it being a sore spot for some players, EA is promising that Madden NFL 23 is getting some "serious upgrades" to its franchise mode.

EA shared the news in blog that gives deep dive into what fans can expect from Madden NFL 23's franchise mode, including the "all-new Free Agency feature, how Player Motivations and Player Tags are bringing more authenticity to Franchise mode, Scouting upgrades that were driven by player feedback, and more."

Free Agency, Active Negotiations, Motivations, and Player Tags

Free Agency in Madden NFL 23 is getting an overhaul and will add "additional evaluation periods, player motivations, and added salary cap functions" that will give players more control and options on building their teams.

The Offseason Free Agency Hub, meanwhile, is getting a full visual overhaul that aims to keep the most relevant info as accessible and clear as possible. There will also be Active Negotiations and Evaluations to shake things up a bit and put a bit more pressure on you as an owner while also giving your more control.

Active Negotiations will stagger the number of players you can offer contracts to during free agency. The first stage will only let you offer five players a contract, the second stage will up it to 10, and the third stage will remove the limits. This will make it so a few teams can't just sign all the best players right away.

Evaluations will let three Eval Offers be made each week that will let players "accept/decline contracts or not make a final decision without the need for the week to be advanced." This will give your team the chance to negotiate with potential players without advancing a week, which will be helpful if you need to change direction if you find a player is not interested in signing with you.

Player Motivations are another big addition to free agency in Madden NFL 23 and will see three Motivations being linked to each player. The Motivations can be anything from a player wanting to be in the chase for a Super Bowl to wanting a team with a franchise QB to simply being close to their hometown. These factors will help determine how interested a player is in signing with you, and a player who is more aligned with your team may be willing to take a pay cut to come aboard. The full list of Motivations are as follows;

• Super Bowl Chase
• Historic Championships
• Head Coach Historic Record
• Scheme Fit
• Top the Depth Chart
• Team Has Franchise QB
• Mentor at Position
• Close to Home
• Big Market
• Tax Free State
• Warm Weather State
• Highest Offer

There will also be Player Tags that will add effects to your team and specific players. These tags are dynamic and will update weekly depending on performance. The full list of Player Tags is as follows;

• Award Winner: Players who have won yearly awards will draw more interest during Free Agency, creating heated competition to land the biggest available names.
• Franchise QB: The top QBs and those poised to take the league by storm will hold a prized position with their team. Not only will they appeal to certain Motivations, teams will not look to replace them via Free Agency or the Draft.
• Bridge QB: Journeyman Quarterbacks filling the most important role for a team. These players will keep the seat warm as the team looks to Draft the next heir to the throne.
• QB of the Future: Recently drafted and ready to take the reins. These Quarterbacks will be given starting roles as they get close in OVR to the current starter.
• Day 1 Starter: Elite players ready to make a difference on the field the moment they are drafted. They will be given starter priority and will secure their position, causing the team to look elsewhere in future Drafts.
• Future Starter: These developing players have high ceilings, but may not be ready to play right away. While they wait for their turn to start, they will gain extra XP during Weekly Training.
• Bridge Player: Filling in the gaps across the roster, these players will either allow for split time with up and comers or signal the need for the team to upgrade this position in the Draft.
• Mentor: Veteran leadership cannot be understated. Weekly Training XP boosts will be given to all players that share a position with a Mentor.
• Trade Target: Whether a young player without a realistic shot at a starting spot or a veteran without a needed hole to fill, these players will be placed on the team’s Trade Block in search of a better fit.

Franchise Hub, Scouting, and Draft Classes

The Franchise Hub is another big focus for the team behind Madden NFL 23 as they understand you can "spend as much time off the field as you spend on the field." Alongside making it so the hub features your team's primary color and logo, there will be updates to the Activity Feed, Scouting, and more.

In regards to Scouting, over 50 scouts have been added in Madden NFL 23, ensuring that "every position has at least one scout in each tier with that particular expertise." You will also be able to scout multiple positions at each stage and there have been improvements made to revealing attributes and information for college prospects.

Draft Classes will include 30 new templates that will further describe how these up-and-comers are being looked at, including Generational Prospects, 99 Club Prospects, High Variance Prospects, Specialist Prospects, and more.

These are only some of the changes headed to Madden NFL 23, and the team is gearing up to share more details on Face of the Franchise and Madden Ultimate Team in the near future.

Madden NFL 23 will be released on August 19, 2022, and you can check out our impressions of the closed beta and details on the cover star being the late John Madden himself.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Hello IGN readers, it's your friendly neighborhood Community Lead once again. We are about halfway through the year, and I'm excited to share a few updates about our recent community initiatives and the updates we've seen so far in 2022.

Article Formats

We launched several new community engagement formats, like Let's Talk About…, Comments of the Week, Photo Mode, and now IGN Pix. These are just the beginning of our commitment to engaging with and helping IGN readers make their voices heard. We have more in the works that we will reveal in the coming months, so stay tuned for updates on those soon.

Photo Mode

In case you missed the launch of Photo Mode, it's your monthly chance to be featured on IGN by submitting your best screenshots from your favorite games. Users submitted photos are voted on by staff and highlighted in future articles. Check out the slideshow below of Photo Mode's first theme heroes submitted by IGN readers.

Our newest theme is live so head over and check it out for the theme and send us your best photos to get featured in next month's Photo Mode.

IGN Pix

IGN Pix, helmed by our streaming editor Amelia Emberwing, is a monthly article written by various staff members about the TV and movies we're enjoying. Whether it's our first time watching something amazing and new like Spy x Family, or watching the newest season of our favorite ongoing show like Barry, our IGN Pix's article is a great way to see what we on staff are watching.

New Tools

Topic Tracker

Do you only want news about Star Trek or Star Wars and not the other? Do you have a favorite TV show and want to receive notifications whenever there is an update? Maybe you have a favorite IGN staff member (like me), and you'd like to get notified when the newest comments of the week article go live to see if you got featured.

Topic Tracker is here to help you personalize all the content on IGN to ensure you see the things you care about the most first. At the bottom of every article, you'll see an assortment of buttons that will help you follow what you care about most. All topics that you select will send a notification to your profile that will take you to the matching article when clicked.

IGN Playlist

Last but not least for this update is our newest tool, IGN Playlist. Create digital lists of your favorite games (or least favorite games, even!) and then share them with others. IGN Playlist has a wide variety of games for nearly every console.

Need some Playlist ideas? You could make a list of games you've finished this year that you want to recommend to others, make your list ranking your favorite Zelda games, or maybe build a playlist of the hundreds of games collecting dust in your backlog. One of your Playlists might get featured in an upcoming new type of community article.

Jada Griffin is IGN's Community Lead. If she's not engaging with users here, chances are she's developing her own games, maxing the Luck stat in her favorite games, or challenging her D&D players with Intense combat or masterful puzzles. You can follow her on Twitter @Jada_Rina.

CyberConnect2 has officially announced Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2, a direct sequel to the 2021 game Fuga: Melodies of Steel.

More information about the sequel will be shown on July 28, but so far, no release date or platform announcements have been made yet. Cyberconnect2 has also created a teaser website for the game in both Japanese and English, indicating that it will be localized.

🎉CyberConnect2 has confirmed that they will be releasing #FugaMelodiesofSteel2, the direct sequel to popular title #FugaMelodiesofSteel, and have put up a teaser website for the new title. CC2 is poised to release new information on 7/28 (Thu).
URL:https://t.co/Qhs0yPY8j3#Fuga2 pic.twitter.com/0jtIC59rmu

— Fuga: Melodies of Steel – Official (@Fuga_CC2_en) July 15, 2022

In addition, Cyberconnect2 revealed that a free demo of the first game is now available. Players can experience the game’s story up to chapter 3 and those who purchase the full game can transfer their save data and progress over to it.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel follows eleven surviving children as their village is destroyed by the Berman Empire. They board onto an ancient technologically advanced tank called the Taranis, which has a weapon called the Soul Cannon.

By sacrificing a crew member’s life, the Soul Cannon can fire a powerful blast. The main cast must choose which members to sacrifice and when so that they can fight off the Berman army while also looking for their own families.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel first launched on July 29, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. There will be more news about Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 on July 28.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

If you're in the market for a massively sized OLED TV, now is a rare time to get one at a price that won't bust your wallet. The 77" LG OLED 4K TV has been priced down to $2200 or less, depending on whether or not you're an Amazon Prime Cardholder (which is worth getting anyways, especially for Amazon Prime Day). If you want something smaller, there's also a 55" Sony OLED 4K TV for under $1000 or a 48" LG 4K TV for just over $800.

New Apple AirPods Pro Noise-Cancelling Earbuds

The current generation Apple AirPods Pro is one of the best sounding "truly wireless" earbuds you'll find, especially at this price point. "Truly wireless" earbuds have no wires whatsoever; even the earbuds aren't hardwired to each other. In addition to the excellent sound quality, the AirPods Pro is the only AirPods with active noise cancelling technology. That, combined with the inherent nature of in-ear earbuds, means that the AirPods Pro will provide better noise isolation than over-ear headphones like the Bose QuietComfort or the Sony WH1000XM5. If you're thinking of getting a pair of new AirPods, we highly recommend jumping on this particular model.

Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 SSD for $119.99

PS5 Compatible

Samsung SSDs need no introduction, and the EVO 980 PRO is the best of the best. It is fully PS5 compatible in terms of form factor and performance, with blistering speeds of up to 7,100MB/s. It goes toe to toe with other (more expensive) options like the WD Black SN850 and the Seagate Firecuda 530.

48" LG C1 4K OLED Smart Gaming TV for $797 Plus 10% Amazon Cashback for Prime Cardmembers

The 48" LG C1 is marked as a TV, and it is, but it's also one of the best gaming monitors on the market. It's hundreds of dollars cheaper than the other highest end gaming monitors like the Samsung Neo G9 49" Mini LED or the Alienware 34" QD-OLED gaming monitor, and is arguably better. It has HDMI 2.1 ports to support 4K @ 120Hz if you have a GeForce RTX 30 series video card, as well as variable refresh rate and G-SYNC. OLED panels have unrivalled response times, so ghosting is non-existent. Compared to traditional LED LCD TVs, OLED TVs offer better image quality, deeper blacks, better contrast ratio, and wider color gamut. Not only does this translate to better gaming, but also better image quality overall, including with 4K HDR content. Unlike other gaming monitors, you can also use it standalone (i.e. without your PC running) if you simply want to watch shows on Netflix, Hulu, Paramount, Disney Plus, and more, since it doubles as a smart TV.

55" Sony A80J 4K OLED Google TV for $998

Whereas normally Sony OLEDs are pricier than LG OLEDs, that's not the case right now. The Sony A80J is $100 less than LG's 55" C1 and $800 less than LG's 55" C2. The A80J is a true OLED 4K TV with near infinite contrast ratios, best-in-class black levels, excellent color rendition, and super fast response times. It also supports 4K @ 120Hz over HDMI 2.1. It also now supports variable refresh rate (VRR) and G-SYNC compatibility thanks to a firmware update that was released earlier this year.

EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra GPU for $780

The GeForce RTX 3080 GPU really doesn't need any introduction. This is the de facto card to get if you plan to run current generation games at 4K, since it's up to 50% faster than the previous generation RTX 2080 SUPER and doesn't command the exorbitant price of the RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3090 (both of which are a mere 3%-5% faster in real world performance). It has an HDMI 2.1 port for passing through 4K @ 120Hz, which it has the power to drive even in resource hungry games like Elden Ring, Battlefield 2042 or Cyberpunk 2077.

EVGA's FTW3 Ultra model comes equipped with a ridiculously large 2.7-slot heatsink with triple fan cooling and a protective metal backplate. This amount of dissipation allows the card to run cooler and quieter than the reference model RTX 3080 FE. This also enables the FTW3 Ultra model to have a modest 1800HZ Boost overclock compared to the stock 1710MHz Boost on the 3080 FE. Lastly and certainly the least important detail, let's not forget about the RGB lighting. There's enough there to make this card stand out in both traditional and vertical orientations.

Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 49" Mini LED Gaming Monitor: The Best Gaming Monitor Around

So what makes this monitor worth the price? The main thing is the Mini LED display. Samsung's highest end "Odyssey" series gaming monitor is also Samsung's only monitor equipped with a Mini LED panel. Mini LED backlights are much smaller and more precise than traditional LED backlights, which means greater contrast ratio, deeper black levels, higher brightness (up to an incredible 2,000 nits), and better HDR than traditional displays. You'll find Mini LED panels only in the higher end 4K TVs as well as the newest Apple iPad Pro 12.9" XDR display, the priciest iPad on the market.

Samsung Odyssey G9 49" Gaming Monitor for $1099

The Samsung Odyssey G9 is one of the largest, most immersive gaming monitors on the market. The only real difference between this monitor and the Odyssey "Neo" G9 monitor that costs $500 more (at the time of this post) is that this one does not have the Mini-LED panel. The Odyssey G9 boasts a massive 49" 5120×1440 curved display with a fast 1ms response time, 240Hz refresh rate, and G-SYNC compatibility. It also boasts a high contrast ratio, good color rendition, and wide viewing angles thanks to its QLED VA panel.

Alienware Aurora R10 RTX 3080 Gaming PC for $1673

This wasn't actually an Amazon Prime Day, but it should have been marketed as such because it is technically a better deal than any gaming PC deal we saw on Prime Day. Amazon has the best price on this RTX 3080 equipped Alienware Aurora gaming PC. It's $150 cheaper than getting the same configuration from Dell directly even compared to Dell's sale price. In addition to the powerful RTX 3080 GPU, this PC boasts a liquid-cooled AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

Klipsch Promedia 2.1 PC Speakers for $49

The Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers have been around for over two decades, and even today it's still considered one of the best 2.1ch dedicated computer speakers you can get. The new model with wireless Bluetooth streaming has a few changes on the spec sheet in order to keep the price down, since the MSRP has dropped from $140 to $100, but for the most part it remains very familiar. The set consists of two satellite speakers, each featuring a .5" Klipsch Micro-Tractrix horn tweeter (replacing the old .75" soft dome tweeter) and 3" long-throw fiber composite cone woofer for crisp sound definition and clear mids and highs. The 6.5" 100W powered subwoofer, down from the 200W rating on the older model, rounds out the bottom end by providing more than enough oomph for those bass heavy beats. This particular model has also been recently updated with wireless Bluetooth streaming but the THX certification has been removed. No big deal there.

PowerBlock Adjustable Dumbbells From $129.99

Currently Woot, which is owned by Amazon, is offering up to 40% off PowerBlock Sport adjustable dumbbells. The 25lb (per dumbbell) set is only $129.99 and the 50lb (per dumbbell) set is $239.99. They are as well built as the Bowflex and the specs are similar. The 25lb set can be adjusted in 3lb increments and the 50lb set can be adjusted in 5lb increments.. These sell out very quickly at Woot so if you've been eyeing a pair, you better not hesitate. Woot is owned by Amazon, so you can sign in with your Amazon Prime account to get free shipping.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16" RTX 3060 Gaming Laptop for $1199, RTX 3070 for $1399

Walmart is offering an outstanding deal on these powerful gaming laptops from Lenovo. Both the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 found in these laptops have a TDP rating of 140W. That is the maximum TDP rating you'll find for a mobile RTX 3060/3070 graphics card, meaning there are the one of the most powerful RTX 3060/3070 gaming laptops you can get. Higher TDP means more power is supplied to the graphics card, and that directly equates to better performance in games.

Logitech BRIO 4K Ultra HD Webcam for $143

If you want the best video quality from a consumer webcam, there's nothing better than the Logitech BRIO. It's capable of streaming 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps. It also includes a privacy shutter and supports Windows Hello. The Logitech BRIO normally retails for $200, but it's currently almost $60 (30%) off on Amazon.

HP Reverb G2 VR Headset

The Reverb G2 normally sells for $599, but the HP Store has it for $200 off. That makes it the same price as the Oculus Quest 2 256gb model but with some significant upgrades under the hood. The Reverb G2 sports the second highest resolution of any VR headset with 2160×2160 pixels per eye (even more than the already impressive Quest 2's 1832×1920 resolution), manual IPD adjustment, a far more robust headstrap than the Quest 2, inside-out tracking that doesn't require external sensors, and off-ear headphones so they don't get as grimy and maintains your peripheral hearing.

Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

Score a rare 20% off this popular little Zelda collectible. The Game & Watch is a miniature retro handheld game system that comes preloaded with The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. It's very well designed with a vibrant full color 2.36" LCD screen and intuitive control buttons, all in a tiny footprint that can even fit in your pocket.

3 Free Months of Audible Premium Plus

Log into your Amazon Prime account to see this deal

This is another targeted deal for Amazon Prime members who have never subscribed for the Audible Premium Plus service. That's right, no hidden fees, no cost, just a straight-up 3-month free trial including three audiobooks of your choosing. That's an outstanding deal considering the membership would usually set you back $14.95 per month, so in total you're saving almost $45 overall on the service.

Dell S2721DGF 27" 1440p GSYNC Gaming Monitor

This excellent monitor has hit a new price low for Black Friday. It's one of the best 27" gaming monitors you can buy for under $500. The S2721DGF boasts a high quality IPS panel (better than the VA panel found on the popular S3220DGF model). It features wide viewing angles and excellent color rendition including 98% DCI-P3 color coverage, a super fast 1ms response time and up to 165Hz refresh rate through the DisplayPort. It's also FreeSync Premium Pro and G-SYNC compatible.

Looking for more sales? Take a look at our guide to Amazon Prime Day deals for more discounts.

Footage and details of Knights of Decayden have been discovered, a long-lost exclusive originally set for the original Xbox from the developers behind Star Wars: X-Wing.

The existence of Totally Games' Knights of Decayden has gone mostly under the radar until now, but details of its development have been told to Axios' Stephen Totilo by Totally Games founder Larry Holland and Xbox head Phil Spencer.

You can check out a look at footage of Knights of Decayden by clicking here.

The game was called many names during its development, including Knights of Utu when it was first pitched in 2000 to Sony as a PlayStation 2 game. When it was set to move forward at Xbox, it was called Archipelago before becoming Knights of Decayden.

Much like Totally Games' Star Wars: X-Wing, Knights of Decayden was focused on flight combat, but it looked to trade "X-Wings for flying beasts." It was set in an original fantasy world and "players controlled a knight on a flying seahorse and engaged in ranged combat against other knights and monsters, lance-based slow-motion jousting and diving underwater to fight sea creatures."

Knights of Decayden would have had both a single-player story mode and multiplayer, and the original pitch to Sony wanted the execs to "imagine jousting high in the air amid skyscraper-like islands soaring above a sparkling sea."

The plan was for Knights of Decayden to launch as an Xbox exclusive within a year of the system's launch in 2001 from an "operation called Studio X that focused on partnerships between Microsoft and outside game teams."

Unfortunately, it was canceled in early 2002 and was an "early casualty in Microsoft’s effort to enter the console market and create games to rival the output of PlayStation, Nintendo and Sega."

Holland called the project "incredibly ambitious and sort of foolish in equal measures" and said the process of creating a new world alongside finding the perfect flight combat was a challenge too big to overcome.

Crunch was also a huge factor, and it also didn't help that the team had to impress Microsoft game managers who were said to not have much "experience trusting developers." One of these bosses was said to have once managed the Excel spreadsheet program.

“I agreed to a very aggressive schedule,” Holland said, “probably more for financial reasons and to keep my organization and company not having to lay off a bunch of people.”

Axios' look at The Knights of Decayden was sparked in part by its profile on Phil Spencer, who said that one of his first assignments when he joined the Xbox gaming team was to "cancel Larry Holland's game."

Spencer "briefly uttered the name 'Knights of Decayden" and Axios began searching for it and only found one result on Google that saw a user listing the game on an Xbox forum in May 2002 as one of a few "sweet upcoming Xbox games." It was also added to a list of cancelled games called Unseen 64 in 2009.

For more on games that have yet to see the light of day, check out our list of 18 games that seemingly vanished and Star Wars games that never were.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.