College Football 26 - Launch & Update from Dev Team
The College Football 26 development team has posted an update on some issues they are aware of and tracking.
A future Title Update will correct a rare issue where some players encounter being unable to kick a field goal. They have confirmed this rare issue only happens if your kicker is left-footed and if the kick was going to be blocked.
For users who have run into a big where they are unable to snap the ball, EA is reporting seeing a successful workaround with repeatedly pressing B/Circle several times or attempting another Pass Protection adjustment with LB/L1. This will be corrected in a future Title Update.
Finally, for users running into overpowered stuff arms, EA recommends flicking the right stick down to counter with a “Cut Stick” which takes out the ball carrier's legs. They are continuing to track data on stiff arm effectiveness.
The blog also includes a refresher on in-game pass protection settings for users seeing excessive pressure & sacks.
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An update from the College Football 26 development team:
College Football 26 Launch & Updates
Hey College Football 26 fans!
Finally everyone gets to enjoy our labor of love. We’re reading a ton of feedback, checking into streams, and watching your content. You might even see us drop some codes in streams over the weekend!
We're here to share some info around some of the gameplay discussions we’re seeing so far. This may not be every little thing, but stick with us - there’s a lot of people playing the game now!
First up, kicking some field goals! We have seen some players encounter a rare issue with being unable to kick a field goal. We have confirmed this rare issue only happens if your kicker is left-footed and if the kick was going to be blocked. We’ll get this one addressed for you in a future Title Update.
Next up, we’re seeing conversation around two specific gameplay topics: stiff arms being overly effective and pass protection.
As the game just hit worldwide launch for a ton of players, we are currently gathering more data on effectiveness of the stiff arm. We always want ball carrier moves to be fun and effective and for the stiff arm in particular, you can always flick the right stick down to counter with a “Cut Stick” which takes out the ball carrier's legs. While we see the sweet highlights and conversation - in the background we’re gathering the data, but there is a built-in counter to the stiff arm, so try that out for us. Head into practice mode and hit one hundred cut sticks before bed!
Pass protection received a major overhaul in College Football 26 and we wanted to focus on a few key reminders about how our pass pro now works:
- Authenticity: All pass plays now come set up with unique pass protections on a per play basis. If you’re calling plays and feeling like your line is sliding to a side without you doing any inputs, that is intended. That is how pass protection would be set by default for that specific play call. Lets roll through some examples:
- Under Center: Set to base protection by default.
- Gun: ‘Empty’ protection if all pass eligible targets are out on a route.
- HB on a Check & Release: Default is set to half-slide away from HB
- PA Pass: Half-slide away from play fake
- Responsiveness: Protection on the Fly
- Protection on the Fly lets you quickly set your pass pro with a flick of the right-stick. Flick left once for a half-slide left and double flick left for a full slide.
- Control: Un-Target Defender
- With our pass protection mechanics, you can also just flick up on the right-stick to un-target a defender. Why would you ever do this? It’ll allow you to strategically leave a defender unblocked that’s optimal for your play call vs the formation front. Maybe you’re playing against another user and they’re mugging the gap or maybe you find a gnarly screen play and don’t want your line to chip a specific player. After all, you are the shot caller of your pass protection scheme.
So lets say you call Z Spot out of Gun Doubles Y Off. This is a 2x2 formation with the HB on a swing route. By default, your protection is set to ‘Empty’ - even if you block your HB, your pass protection is still set to ‘Empty’, so you'll potentially want to think about making an additional adjustment with your pass protection depending on the defensive look or flow of the game.
Of course you can always call a play, pull up the pass protection (L1/LB) and then set the protection to base protection - which may be what you’re used to if you played last year, that was primarily our default protection.
Y’all know ball, we trust you. Just be sure to check your pass pro for us via Coach Cam (R2/RT) before snapping the ball.
One last thing since we mentioned snapping the ball. We’re seeing some players encounter a rare issue where they are unable to snap the ball occasionally.
We have investigated this issue and are working to address it as soon as possible. In our investigation, you can hit this rare issue when you’re at the line of scrimmage and hit RT/R2 + Up on the right-stick and then release them both simultaneously.
If you happen to hit this, we are seeing a successful workaround with repeatedly pressing B/Circle several times or attempting another Pass Protection adjustment with LB/L1. This one is for sure on our radar and is a top priority to address.
As mentioned earlier, this isn’t everything we are tracking just some of the key gameplay topics. Keep playing, keep enjoying, and keep sharing with us. Thank you all for being incredibly passionate about our game and the wonderful world of college football!
