Madden 16: EA Access Release Date and What to Expect from Early Preview

Madden NFL 16 fans have less than a month to wait to get their hands on the game. The official retail release date is August 25 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.  

However, hardcore Xbox One owners who subscribe to EA Access will get an early look as soon as August 20.

What to Expect from Early Preview

Big Push for Madden Ultimate Team and Draft Champions

Madden Ultimate Team is easily the most popular mode and a huge revenue producer for the Madden franchise. Draft Champions is the series' latest twist on fantasy sports. There will likely be a nice preview of both modes.

One of the best pieces of news on the MUT scene is the new rewards initiative. This year, gamers who played MUT in Madden 15 and have the saves on their consoles will receive the following head start, per the Madden Ultimate Team Twitter account:

Returning Xbox One users will undoubtedly be cashing in their rewards during the early preview period. This is a long-overdue feature for MUT that should become a standard across the Ultimate Team platform as well as with similar modes in other sports video games.

Draft Champions is like fantasy football for gamers/fans with an even shorter attention span than normal. Raise your hand if that's you.

You're essentially given a theme, some core players and are charged with filling out a roster for a mini-tournament and given a set of challenges. Here's a preview of the mode courtesy of EA Game Changer QJB:

The early preview will mark the first time most will have played Draft Champions, so expect an outpouring of impressions on social media.

Improved Visuals

For the last few years, Madden has looked really good. The early screenshots made available, such as the feature image and the ones below, per Steve Noah of Operation Sports, are an indication of what's in store for gamers.

It looks like there's an increase of scanned faces and authentic tattoos for players. The crowd also looks more detailed, as all fans will be wearing authentic NFL gear, per EASports.com.

Madden NFL 15 was great for what I like to refer to as video game photography. Translation: You can take some really cool still shots of the game if you pause it and go through the instant-replay suite. Madden 16 should continue that tradition.

New Passing Gameplay Features

EA Sports placed a big emphasis on making the passing game as realistic as possible this season.

Creating new pass-catching options was an objective for the development team. The goal was to give options in the passing game that accentuated the specialties of quarterbacks and receivers. With a deeper concentration on the player ratings, the concept could allow the elite players to stand out from the more mediocre performers.

The new gameplay module is called Air Supremacy. Here's a look at the new features from EA Sports on YouTube:

There should be enough to keep fans busy for four days or so until the rest of the Madden community joins in on the action.

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Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter.