The Madden 23 SSL error, which has made it impossible for players to access CFM mode in the NFL sports game, has likely resulted in a permanent loss of 60% of player Franchise data, with EA issuing an apology and outlining plans for data recovery.
The issues with Madden 23 began on December 26, with players reporting connectivity problems and being denied access to the online CFM mode owing to an “SSL error.” CFM (Connected Franchise Mode) is essentially an expanded career mode in Madden 23, which allows players to control an individual coach or player and compete against one another in online leagues.
On December 28, EA reported that the connection issue had been resolved, and players would be able to access CFM. However, players were still experiencing the SSL issue on December 29, with EA since announcing that for Madden 23 fans who tried to log into the game on either of these days, their CFM save data will have been corrupted by a “storage issue.”
“On Wednesday [December 28] around 2.45pm EST, players trying to access the Franchise server were given an error that leagues were unavailable,” EA says. “The issue persisted until 12.45am EST on Thursday [December 29]. Unfortunately, if you logged into Franchise leagues during this time, your data was affected due to a data storage issue that resulted in Franchise files being corrupted.”
EA adds that the data for players who did not log in during this time will not be affected. The outlook for corrupted data, however, is uncertain, with the developer saying that less than half of the affected Franchise saves can be recovered.
“Not all affected leagues can be restored,” EA says. “The team is currently projecting around 40% of leagues to be recovered. We will communicate an updated timeline next week around the potential restoration of save files from a backup.
“We are sorry that this happened. We know how important your franchises are to you and we are actively working on a fix to restore some files via a backup as soon as possible.” EA encourages players whose data has been corrupted to “start a new franchise, as the mode is up and running.”
Little solace, but if your Franchise data has been corrupted, you might be considering swapping sports series entirely, in which case we’d recommend some of the best football games. You could also try some of the other best multiplayer games, or perhaps some great racing games if you want to keep that competitive, online edge.