Reader's Choice

3. Rocket League

Taken as a whole, Rocket League has obviously been a huge success. And a big reason the game continues to stay popular is due to the developers adding more and more to the experience. Whether it's experimental stuff like a Hockey Mode, or a timely cultural item like the DeLorean being added on October 21 to coincide with the day and date of Marty and Doc, the developers treat Rocket League with respect while also embracing the goofiness of it all. Putting that together with timely patches and a focus on the user base above all else is why Rocket League makes it as a reader's choice pick.

2. Madden NFL 16

In terms of post-release support, the most recent patch adding a way for you to (finally) play a friend in the popular Draft Champions mode put a nice bow on what's been a solid year for Madden NFL 16 on that front. The play-a-friend feature was something almost everybody wanted at release, and while it would have been pessimistic to think "they'll just wait until next year to add it," it also would not have been crazy to assume such a thing in the current AAA development process (plus all the "LOL EA amirite!?" stuff). This type of addition, along with some timely tuning updates, the now-standard roster updates and a group of patches that have unquestionably helped the game are why the readers have made this the runner-up in the post-launch support category.

1. NBA 2K16

If there's one thing the NBA 2K developers do in terms of post-release support, it's that they aggressively patch their game. Sometimes, like last year, that amount of aggressive patching actually ends up making the game worse (arguably way worse, don't think we've forgotten you patch four!). But we recently got patch four in NBA 2K16, and for the most part this version of patch four has made the game better and not worse. With that in mind, what is always a guarantee with our readers is that if you make gameplay changes for the better, you're always going to get the most credit. And what's great about NBA 2K in this regard is that those developers are not afraid to make rather large changes in these patches. Whether it's sort of putting the kibosh on the ease of alley-oops, or allowing ball movement to allow shooters to get more space, the developers -- for better or worse -- are going to have you playing a game on January 1 that's way different from the one you were playing on October 1. This year those post-release changes have made NBA 2K16 the Reader's Choice for Post-Launch Support.
 

Madden NFL 16



Our staff picks were relatively similar to the readers in this regard, but as a group we felt Madden NFL 16 deserved to win the award this time around. The roster updates, the tuners and the patches are all things we now expect from big-time sports games. But the real item that pushed the game over the edge for us was the addition of tangible tweaks to an existing mode in Draft Champions. Playing a friend is a wonderful addition to that mode, and also adding in a "ranked" version of Draft Champions back in November was big as well. When it comes to staying involved with sports games, it's not just about fixing "bugs" that will keep us coming back, it's the addition of actual stuff that makes you want to come back and check out the game all over again. The Madden NFL 16 developers have made an effort to do fix and add to their game this year, and that's why it's the Staff's Choice for Post-Launch Support.