We’ve made several key updates to improve challenge, strategy, and balance in NFL Rivals! Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new:
Gameplay Balancing -
More Strategic Passing: Routes that used to be open every down are now more dynamic. Similar to what a QB experiences in real life, you’ll need to check your receivers and adjust, making each play more rewarding.
Difficulty Scaling: Your team’s Offense Power vs. the opponent’s Defense Power determines how tough the match will be.
Individual Matchups Matter: Player vs. player matchups make difficulty scale even more. While total offensive power vs opponent defensive power still plays a role, card vs card individual matchups now have much more impact on gameplay, creating dynamic opportunities and allowing strategic player selection. You'll now get more direct feedback when your defensive team is shutting down big plays.
Star players shine more than ever!
New Features & Improvements -
Swap Plays: Choose from 6 plays per down with a new option to switch between two sets of plays.
Stop Routes: New route types where receivers stop instead of running out of position - giving you more control. Stop routes are effective as defenders may overrun their coverage.
Smarter Animations: Clear visual cues show when players stop or continue their routes.
Enhanced Movement & Passing
- Faster running speeds and quicker acceleration.
- More accurate and quicker throws for high-power QBs.
- Improved short and long throw dynamics for all players.
- Smoother ball physics with consistent throw speeds.
Better Defense Mechanics
- Increased defender range to block catches.
- More realistic interference behavior.
- Defenders can now disrupt passes from further away.
- Smarter tackling logic with immediate dives when in range.
Overhauled AI -
New AI logic makes for more immersive, unpredictable opponent possessions that will chew less clock and lead to more unique outcomes than before.
Time -
We’re making significant adjustments to how time progresses in NFL Rivals to create a more balanced and predictable gameplay experience. Previously, AI possessions could take up a wide range of game time, sometimes consuming an entire quarter depending on how their drives played out. The new system streamlines this process by introducing a more consistent approach to game clock management.
Key changes include:
- Opponent kickoffs now take a few seconds off the clock, rather than being instant.
- AI possessions now scale more predictably with yardage gained, rather than a variable series of downs, ensuring a more balanced time impact.
- Overall, AI possessions will now take significantly less game time than before, allowing for a more competitive flow between player and AI drives.
- To maintain the intended match length and keep the balance between possessions, we’re also adjusting quarter durations to one minute. These changes should help games feel more dynamic while keeping match times in line with expectations.
- Smoother defender reactions and smarter decision-making.
Kicking -
We’re refining the kicking mechanics to add more nuance and skill to the process. Instead of a strict success/fail outcome on the kick bars, we’re introducing a soft success system that adjusts difficulty based on player performance.
Here’s what’s changing:
- Aim remains just as challenging as before, but now where you land on the aim bar will influence the difficulty of the power test.
- Perfect aim will lead to an easier power test, while a poorly aimed kick will make hitting the right power more difficult.
- This system provides more control and variation in kicking outcomes, making it a more dynamic and skill-based experience.
- These changes reward precision while making the kicking game feel smoother and more natural.
Pigskin Labs: Gameplay Balance Update - beta event will run over the next two days (Wednesday/Thursday) and can be found in the Daily Events section. You have 25 total Fuel so you can play at your own pace.
These updates are designed to create a more competitive, strategic, and enjoyable NFL Rivals experience while keeping the overall feel of the game you love intact.
See you on the field!