In Madden 24 Franchise Mode, there’s few things as satisfying as successfully developing a player into a star contributor for your team.
This process of acquiring and developing talented young players into top tier performers is how you keep sustained success for your team over a long time period in Franchise Mode, as they’ll need to step in for the older stars of the present who won’t be able to play forever.
However, the unfortunate reality is that not every player has the untapped potential to be developed into an elite, or even good, player for your team (although this can sometimes be changed, as we’ll address later). This is where Madden 24’s player development traits (or “dev traits”) come into play.
Every player in Madden 24’s Franchise Mode has one of four possible development traits (players’ dev traits can move up or down in tier over time). These dev traits combine with other factors such as age and current overall rating to influence how quickly a player can earn skill points to improve their attributes and climb in overall, as well as effecting the rate at which older players regress.
It’s important to be familiar with each dev trait in Madden 24 and what it means for both each individual player as well as your team as you move forward in Franchise Mode.
The Four Tiers of Player Development Traits
In Madden 24 there are four different tiers of dev traits that a player can have: Normal, Star, Superstar, and Superstar X Factor (listed in ascending order).
The main purpose of the dev trait is to determine the potential that any given player has in terms of a ceiling. This is because the higher a player’s dev trait is, the faster they will earn skill points, allowing them to earn upgrades and improve their overall rating at a faster pace than players with a lower dev trait than them.
Higher dev traits can also help older players lessen the effects of regression, allowing them to stay in their prime and performing at a high level for longer than they would otherwise.
The teams controlled by the CPU will also be aware of players’ dev traits and will behave accordingly. The CPU will see players with high dev traits as more valuable, meaning that they’ll be harder to trade for and/or able to be traded away for a larger haul depending on which side of the trade you’re on.
High dev trait players will also tend to be more expensive to sign in free agency as their markets will usually be more competitive than other players.
Normal Development Trait
The lowest and most common player development trait you’ll see in Madden 24 Franchise Mode is the “normal” dev trait. As the name implies, “normal” is essentially the default dev trait for players in Madden 24’s Franchise Mode.
A player’s normal dev trait will be signified within their player card with a bronze colored dev trait symbol as well as a bronze tinted background when viewed within the “Adjust Lineup” screen in Franchise Mode.
Seeing as the normal dev trait is the lowest dev trait in the game, players with normal dev will see no dev trait related benefits. These players will require the usual amount of XP for a skill point upgrade, have no boost to their value in either a trade offer or on the free agent market, and will see no benefits in terms of fighting off regression when they reach that stage in their career.
There’s no need to worry if a player you have high hopes for has a normal dev trait, however, as there are multiple ways that a player can increase (or in less fortunate circumstances: decrease) they’re dev trait over the course of a franchise as we’ll discuss later.
Star Development Trait
The star development trait is the next level up from the previously mentioned normal, and is the first tier of dev trait that sees any benefits in Madden 24’s Franchise Mode.
A player’s star dev trait will be signified within their player card with a silver colored dev trait symbol as well as a silver tinted background when viewed within the “Adjust Lineup” screen in Franchise Mode.
The tier of a star dev trait is the first dev trait where players begin seeing benefits directly from their dev trait. The most obvious is the dev trait’s name sake, as players with a star dev trait will cost 20% less XP to earn a skill point upgrade than those with a normal dev trait.
For example (using simple math for the sake of the example): if a player with a normal dev trait needs 1000 XP to earn a skill point upgrade, a player with a star dev trait would only need 800 XP for that same skill point upgrade (assuming factors such as age and current overall are the same across players).
Star dev trait players will also be slightly more valuable to CPU controlled teams in both trade offers and free agency, as well as being less likely to suffer the effects of age related regression than their normal dev trait counterparts when they get older.
Superstar Development Trait
The superstar development trait is the next level up from the previously mentioned star, and is the first tier of dev trait that allows players to access to Superstar Abilities (special in game, on field boosts) in Madden 24’s Franchise Mode.
A player’s superstar dev trait will be signified within their player card with a gold colored dev trait symbol as well as a gold tinted background when viewed within the “Adjust Lineup” screen in Franchise Mode.
A player in the tier of a superstar dev trait will see even stronger benefits from their dev trait than players with a star dev trait will. The most obvious is the dev trait’s name sake, as players with a superstar dev trait will cost 35% less XP to earn a skill point upgrade than those with a normal dev trait.
For example (using simple math for the sake of the example): if a player with a normal dev trait needs 1000 XP to earn a skill point upgrade, a player with a superstar dev trait would only need 650 XP for that same skill point upgrade (assuming factors such as age and current overall are the same across players).
Superstar dev trait players will also be much more valuable to CPU controlled teams in both trade offers and free agency, as well as being less likely to suffer the effects of age related regression than their normal dev trait counterparts when they get older.
Superstar X Factor Development Trait
The superstar X factor development trait is both the highest and rarest dev trait tier in Madden 24. Players with a superstar X factor dev trait will have access to the same Superstar Abilities as those with superstar dev traits, as well the ability to equip X Factor Zone Abilities (an even stronger level of special in game, on field abilities that unlock after meeting a specific criteria to “enter the zone”).
A player’s superstar X factor dev trait will be signified within their player card with a red colored dev trait symbol as well as a red tinted background when viewed within the “Adjust Lineup” screen in Franchise Mode.
A player in the tier of a superstar X factor dev trait will see the strongest benefits from their dev trait of any players in Madden 24. The most obvious is the dev trait’s name sake, as players with a superstar X factor dev trait will cost a staggering 50% less XP to earn a skill point upgrade than those with a normal dev trait.
For example (using simple math for the sake of the example): if a player with a normal dev trait needs 1000 XP to earn a skill point upgrade, a player with a superstar X factor dev trait would only need 500 XP for that same skill point upgrade (assuming factors such as age and current overall are the same across players).
Superstar X Factor dev trait players will also be extremely more valuable to CPU controlled teams in both trade offers and free agency, as well as being less likely to suffer the effects of age related regression than their normal dev trait counterparts when they get older.
Hidden Development Trait
The most unique form of development trait in Madden 24 Franchise Mode is that of the hidden development trait, which you might stumble across if you scout the college prospects well and make some great draft selections.
Hidden development traits are only seen when a player with a star or better dev trait has accumulated less than 500 snaps, meaning it’s seen almost exclusively with rookie players. A player’s hidden dev trait will be signified within their player card with a blue colored dev trait symbol as well as a blue tinted background when viewed within the “Adjust Lineup” screen in Franchise Mode.
These player’s dev traits will continue to display as hidden until they’ve played at least 500 in game snaps, which is when they’re true dev trait will be revealed. You can view how many snaps a player has currently racked by looking below their dev trait symbol within their player card.
You can somewhat cheat the game by viewing their true dev trait early by viewing them from the “Edit Player” menu, although I personally find the suspense and surprise of the reveal both more fun and more realistic of an experience.
During the time a player has a hidden dev trait the game will treat that player as if they have a superstar dev trait regardless of what their actual dev trait is eventually revealed to be.
This means that until the player has accumulated the necessary 500 snaps to reveal their true dev trait, they’ll only cost 35% less XP to earn a skill point upgrade than those with a normal dev trait, just as a player with a superstar dev trait would.
Players with a hidden dev trait will also see the same boost in value in the eyes of a CPU controlled team that a superstar dev trait player will.
Player Development Trait Progression and Regression
Over the course of your Franchise Mode league in Madden 24, various players will both progress and regress their development traits, meaning their dev trait will go either up or down a tier depending on multiple factors.
This means that all hope isn’t lost if there’s a player you have high hopes for stuck with a low dev trait, but it also means that you’re not totally in the clear even if your young player has an amazing dev trait.
Outside of player specific scenarios such as breakouts or training camp drills, all player dev trait changes will take place during Super Bowl Week and will be based on the player’s statistical performance over the course of that season.
A player can earn a dev trait upgrade if they finish towards the top of the league in stats relevant to their position (for example: passing yards and passing touchdowns for QBs, or interceptions for CBs).
The criteria to earn an upgrade will be harder for players that already have high dev traits (a QB with a superstar dev trait will need more passing yards to earn an upgrade than a QB with a normal dev trait would).
A player will also be guaranteed to earn an upgrade to their dev trait if they end the year by earning an individual yearly award such as MVP, Best DB, or Rookie of the Year.
The game’s process for deciding which players will regress in their dev trait is a bit more complex, however.
The game will handle all dev trait progression before it begins dishing out any dev trait regression. Once all the players who have earned an upgrade to their dev trait receive that upgrade, the game will check the total number of players in each tier of dev trait and directly compare that to the max number of each tier allowed by your Franchise Mode league’s settings.
Just like game sliders, this maximum number allowed for each tier of dev trait can be edited from within the “Dev Trait Management” section of the League Settings within your franchise, so you’ll need to be sure that each of these settings is set to your liking before you progress to Super Bowl Week.
To navigate to the “Dev Trait Management” section of your league settings, you’ll first need to use L1 and R1 (or LB and RB) to toggle over to the “Options” section of the Franchise Mode main menu. Once in the Options section you’ll want to select the top most option of “Franchise Settings”.
This will then prompt you to select between “League Settings”, “XP Sliders”, and “Gameplay Sliders”, which is where you’ll want to select “League Settings”.
Once viewing the league settings options, you’ll need to scroll down to roughly halfway down the available settings until you see a section labeled “Dev Trait Management”.
In this section you’ll be able to choose the maximum amount of players allowed within your league to have each tier of dev trait: Star, Superstar, and Superstar X Factor.
Once your desired maximum number allowed is set for each available tier of player dev traits, make sure to check in and take a look at your team during Super Bowl Week to see which of your players have had changes to their dev traits!
Superstar and Superstar X Factor Abilities
In Madden 24 players that have either the Superstar dev trait or the Superstar X Factor dev trait will see extra benefits on top of those that have already been mentioned such as the lower XP cost to earn skill point upgrades.
These extra benefits are called Superstar Abilities and Zone Abilities respectively. These abilities manifest in the form of on field boosts to the player that allow them to truly stand out as elite players that can take over an entire game by themselves.
Superstar Abilities
Superstar abilities are available to players with either a Superstar dev trait or a Superstar X Factor dev trait.
These are static abilities that are always active when the player in question is on the field (unless that specific ability applies otherwise), making them a constant threat to use their unique talents to make a big play.
Each player can has two superstar ability slots, allowing them to have a maximum of two superstar abilities equipped. The first superstar ability slot is unlocked when the player reaches an overall rating of 70 or higher, while the second superstar ability slot will unlock when the player reaches an overall of 85 or higher.
While reaching these overall requirements will make the superstar ability slots available to the player, it doesn’t necessarily mean that each individual superstar ability will be able to be equipped into these slots.
This is because each individual ability has it’s own unique overall criteria tied to the overall rating for various player archetypes (such as a 90+ improviser rating required to equip the “threat detector” ability, or a 95+ elusive back rating required to equip the “human joystick” ability).
Zone Abilities
Zone abilities are exclusive to players with the Superstar X Factor dev trait and are the strongest abilities in the game.
Unlike the previously mentioned superstar abilities, zone abilities are only active whenever the player manages to enter the zone. However zone abilities make up for this by being much stronger than the superstar abilities, allowing a player to become a true game wrecker and take over the game when they enter the zone and activate their abilities.
Each player only has one zone ability slot available, as zone abilities are meant to represent a player’s most elite traits that allow them to dominate on the field.
However, just like superstar abilities, having the zone ability slot available does not automatically mean you have access to your picking of all the possible zone abilities in the game.
This is because each zone ability also has its own unique overall criteria tied to a player’s overall ratings in each of the player archetypes (such as needing a 95+ OVR power back rating to unlock the “freight train” zone ability or needing a 70+ OVR receiving back rating to unlock the “max security” zone ability).
