Does Axis Football 26 Have the Best Franchise Mode?

Football video games have ruled my life since the days of Tecmo Super Bowl on the Sega Genesis. One of the coolest features of that game was that it would keep yearly player stats in its basic franchise mode, such as touchdowns, yards and sacks. At the end of a season with whichever team I was using that playthrough, I would write these down in a notebook and compare them to other teams I used in the game. The combination of Reggie White and Matt Brock for my hometown Green Bay Packers was incredibly effective at sacking the quarterback. 

I have been a fan of franchise modes in almost all sports games since. The regular season games mean less to me than signing free agents, trades and the draft. My most recent experience being a general manager was in Madden NFL 22. In it, I led the Jets to a championship, made Zach Wilson an MVP and signed Aaron Rodgers as his backup. Ah, the crazy things you can do in sports games make them a blast. So, when I saw a game called Axis Football 26 claimed to have “the industry's best franchise mode,” I knew I needed to give it a try.

Axis Football 26 Gameplay

Playing Axis Football 2026 feels like playing a Madden game from the early 2000s. Graphics are similar and gameplay is rudimentary. I was shocked when I went into the controller settings and there was no button for tackling. When you are playing defense, you can either run into a player to tackle them, or occasionally if you are tracking a quarterback behind the line of scrimmage, it pops up a notification telling you to press X to attempt a sack.

Offense feels more flushed out. Before the snap, you can audible, send a player in motion, use a hot route, change your strategy or see the routes your players will run on that play. You can design your own plays and run them in games as well. One annoyance on this side of the ball is phantom tacklers. This happens when your player is running with the ball, and clearly sprints past a player, but then somehow a second later they are being tackled. 

The game has a few unique gameplay mechanics. When you set up a franchise, you can choose between the traditional American divisional system or a tiered system similar to European football (soccer for us American players), where teams can be relegated or promoted based on record. I opted for the standard American, but hope to give the latter a try. Also, if you are down late in the game, you can choose to complete a 4th and 15 play from the 25-yard line instead of an onside kick. If you make the play, you get the ball where you completed the play. This is an alternative the NFL has discussed, but never implemented. Unaware a team could choose this option, it cost me my first game as I was getting my team ready for an onside kick, while the other team easily converted. 

Gameplay is a bit rough. Apart from the previously mentioned phantom tackles, I noticed on a rare occasion that players will instantly be out-of bounds. The clock sometimes stops for the 2-minute warning, but usually at the end of the first half it just keeps running. Your home stadium appears random, with just your team’s name and logo in the end zone. At one point, I had a Statue of Liberty behind one set of goalposts when I was playing as a Green Bay team. Finally, this game has a soundtrack. Unfortunately it’s two songs by the band Skillet randomly repeating, Showtime and Legendary. This gets old quickly. 

Axis Football 26 Franchise Mode

The claim of the “industry's best franchise mode” is what drew me to Axis Football 26, so I hurried through a season to get to the good parts. Along the way there were opportunities to prepare your team for free agency and the draft. Each team has four scouts who focus on one area of the country. Each scout gets one research point per week to spend on college players. 1-2 research points give you a player's final grade in the draft. 

Each rookie will have a letter grade, but often they are inaccurate compared to that player’s actual skills. Scouting is one way to find hidden gems, but another is just looking at their grades in various categories. In my first draft, I added 12 players, and the lowest graded player I got was a C+. I would look at the statistics most important to that position to make my picks. For linemen, it was run and pass blocking. Wide receivers, its hands and speed. Using this method, I was able to get an incredible class, without needing to scout all the players. 

An unfortunate decision by the makers of this game is that it is impossible to sort by a single statistic. I like to make a fast team, and I would need to go through each payer individually to find who was the fastest. If I did not write down who it was and decided to draft them later, I would have to go through and find them again, as there is no way to mark players you are interested in drafting. 

Another way to improve your team is through free agency, either resigning your own players or others that teams let hit the market. One of the pro tips I learned from multiple seasons is that the free agent pool is significantly better at the beginning of a new season rather than the end of a season. Apparently teams draft players then cut their best players. 

At the end of the season, you will also see how your players progressed and improved (or regressed) throughout the season. The player rankings for older players are more likely to decrease, while your younger players will likely get better. Surprisingly, I noticed that the statistics for players on the practice squad do not change, which is mildly annoying. Another weird aspect of progression is players have letter grades for each skill, but receive number updates during player progression. 

Trades are another way to improve your team in Axis Football 26. Throughout the season, other organizations submit offers for your players. You can accept, decline or update these requests. You can also attempt to trade your players. One of the features I wish this game had was a trading block, where you could add a player and other teams could submit offers for them. 

I made a number of trades during my two seasons for both players and draft picks. I tried trading my B+-rated MVP quarterback for a first round pick after my first season, but was unable to find a team willing to pay that for him. However, I was able to trade C-rated middle aged linebackers for top 100 picks in the draft. I also traded an A-rated center for the second overall pick. Trades do not always make a lot of sense in this game, but it is worth trying to get something for the players buried at the bottom of your depth chart. 

Does Axis Football 26 have the best franchise mode?

So does Axis Football 2026 have the best franchise mode in football? No, but it is a solid alternative to Madden. As I mentioned earlier this game feels like an early 2000s version of Madden, and the franchise mode reflects that. It’s quirky and sometimes can have you questioning the AI behind it, but overall it is a fun experience. 

II give Axis Football a 3 out of 5. Despite some annoyances, the franchise mode is still fun. I have played two seasons and 16 hours of the game and I plan to play more of it, and not because I’m jonesing to heat those two Skillet songs a couple hundred more times. It runs $20 on most digital storefronts, and is worth the price.

Axis Football 26 is available on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

Review Haiku

Franchise mode is fun
Someone take my quarterback
For a first round pick

Editorial note: the author received a review code for this game.