Madden NFL 26 has the worst Nintendo Switch 2 port yet, but I’m still playing it

The Nintendo Switch 2 port of Madden NFL 26 is not great, yet I likely won’t be playing any other version of the football game this year. It’s a port for those who like to play franchise mode offline and almost no one else.

This EA Sports series hasn’t been on a Nintendo console since 2012, and portable versions of Madden have never been at full parity with the console games, so Madden NFL 26 was one of my most anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 ports.

Unfortunately, it struggles to run on the system and is full of glitches, performance issues, and other annoyances that make it a bad port.

I play Madden in a very specific way, though, and that happens to be the best way to play Madden NFL 26 on Nintendo Switch 2.

There’s a lot wrong with Madden NFL 26 on Nintendo Switch 2

A bad port of a flawed game

The Madden series does have a reputation for not improving that much year over year, with glitches and other issues carrying over. While those things apply to Madden NFL 26 on Switch 2, the problems only start there.

These are just some of the ways I noticed Madden NFL 26 on Switch 2 is inferior to other versions of the game:

• Moving through menus sometimes is delayed, making Ultimate Team a slog to get through.
• Any motion graphics that play during games animate at a reduced framerate.
• Loading screens are long and sometimes freeze the game entirely.
• Animation glitches are more prevalent than on other platforms.
• The frame rate can dip massively in certain stadiums.
• During one game, all sound except for the commentators completely vanished during the second half, and that audio sounded corrupted.

While all the same content from the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X versions is present here, this is the most janky way you can play it.

Other problems, like the game not supporting the Switch 2’s screenshot functionality or cross-play with other versions of the game, limit its appeal even further.

Of all the Switch 2 ports that have been released, this is probably the worst one. I can only hope that EA commits to improving the game with updates post-launch and doesn’t just leave it in this dire state.

Why I’m still playing Madden NFL 26 despite all of its problems

A port tailor-made for offline franchise mode players, and no one else

Despite all the issues with this Madden NFL 26 port, I still find myself playing it. That’s because Franchise mode is one of the only parts of the game to work well portably in tabletop or handheld mode on Switch 2.

I play Madden almost every year, but unless I’m reviewing the game, I tend to play Franchise mode offline, going through a couple of seasons as the Chicago Bears in my spare time.

Being restricted to only playing on console or my desktop PC limits how much I can do that, unfortunately.

Having a more portable version of Madden’s Franchise mode is something that I’ve wanted for years.

The PC version doesn’t enable that with Steam Deck because of some of the game’s anti-cheat services. For the past decade, the only way I’ve really been able to play the game that way was through cloud gaming.

The Madden titles released on Google Stadia were some of my most-played titles on Google’s doomed gaming platform.

But nowadays, Google Stadia is gone, Xbox Cloud Gaming is not the smoothest experience on mobile, and cloud gaming still limits portability by requiring me to be connected to the internet.

Offline franchise mode is still playable on Nintendo Switch 2 if the console is in airplane mode, and despite all of my qualms with this version of Madden NFL 26, that’s just barely good enough for me.

For the first time, I can quickly boot up and play through a week within the Franchise mode whenever and wherever I want. That’s empowering, and though this port is quite bad, that functionality appeals very specifically to me.

I’m happy to now have a Madden game that I can take with me on work trips or vacations, so I can still get my football gaming fix. It’ll definitely be comprised in many ways, but that’s good enough for me.

Madden NFL 26 on Nintendo Switch 2 is tough to recommend

Unless you only play Franchise mode offline like me

Do I recommend that all Madden players stop getting the game on other platforms and make the Nintendo Switch 2 port of Madden NFL 26 their go-to version of the game for the rest of the year? No way.

If you primarily play multiplayer, Ultimate Team, or online leagues with friends, this is by far the worst version of this EA Sports game that you can pick up.

However, if you’re part of the very specific niche of Madden players that I am — an offline Franchise player who wishes that they could easily bring the game on the go — this port is just enough to scrape by.

You’ll have to deal with some frustrating glitches, a poor frame rate, and a lack of compatibility with the other versions of the game, though, so you’ll have to decide if those are dealbreakers for you.