Season 4 of Maximum Football has officially launched across all platforms, bringing with it a vibrant 1980s-themed Season Pass and a significant gameplay update designed to enhance the player experience. This new season offers players the opportunity to unlock a wide array of cosmetic items over 50 levels of progression, including two distinct new stadiums. Hillside Park features a classic horseshoe stadium design, while Citadel Park is introduced as a versatile, mixed-use venue, uniquely incorporating a baseball diamond within one of its endzones, catering to diverse sports scenarios.

A cornerstone of the Season 4 update is the introduction of PlaySense, a completely reworked playcalling system. Developers anticipate PlaySense will significantly improve the artificial intelligence, making it smarter and more reactive. This aims to ensure the AI can better adapt to the dynamic flow of a match, moving away from predictable patterns and offering a more challenging and realistic opponent. Complementing this, ten new playbooks have been added for offenses, providing players with expanded strategic options.

Further enhancing offensive capabilities, Run-Pass Options (RPOs) make their debut in this update, offering players innovative tools to dismantle defenses and introduce greater variety to their offensive attacks. Beyond these major additions, a number of gameplay settings have been fine-tuned to achieve a better core gameplay feel. Players are advised to reset their sliders to default to experience the new baseline values and explore the updated settings, with the added convenience of being able to set up presets for easier access to different gameplay feels or quarter lengths.

Additional gameplay improvements include enhanced catching mechanics, specifically addressing frequent dropped or missed passes, particularly for short, down-the-middle throws. A false start penalty has also been implemented. AI defenders, especially those in the secondary operating zone defense, now make decisions based on their visual information, utilizing a vision cone to more realistically assess in-game situations. The update also brings a host of new catch, tackle, and tackle miss animations, designed with the specific intent of better carrying momentum for ball carriers during tackles, leading to more natural physical interactions. AI behavior for fumbles has been refined for increased realism, and fair catch calls are now disabled for onside kicks.

Customization options have also seen additions, with new hairstyles available for players. Furthermore, uniform numbers can now be customized based on specific “zones,” allowing for different color setups across the helmet, jersey, and pants, offering greater personalization. The update also includes various bug fixes, addressing issues such as AI angle selection after a catch and resolving an issue where MPL uniforms could become invisible in certain menus when a vintage uniform was selected.