The sky is the limit for EA Sports' upcoming EA Sports FC title, with lots of changes expected from fans after ditching the FIFA branding.
EA and FIFA ended its 30-year relationship last year after EA reportedly failed to meet FIFA's money demands to retain the FIFA branding, with the publisher soon after confirming their brand-new football game, EA Sports FC. As reported by Video Games Chronicle, EA's CEO Andrew Wilson later hit out at FIFA, claiming the football governing body has "impeded" EA, and that "they’ve precluded our ability to be able to branch into the areas that players want.”
These comments suggest that EA could be set to break the mould, and become more innovative with their upcoming game than ever before. There were a number of features that fans expected to launch in FIFA 23, such as crossplay in the Pro Clubs game mode, but they ultimately failed to deliver. So, If EA sticks to its word, could we expect an all-around better game in EA Sports FC?
Here are 10 things that we think would make EA FC 24 a big success.
10 things we want to see in EA Sports FC
Crossplay in Pro Clubs
Most likely top of everyone's list, EA left fans extremely frustrated when they announced Crossplay would finally be coming to every online game mode on FIFA 23, but not Pro Clubs. Yes, EA opted not to add Crossplay to the most social game mode in FIFA 23, and as expected, it did not go down well with the FIFA community.
So, in EA Sports FC, EA has the chance to make everyone happy and redeem themselves by adding Crossplay to Pro Clubs. We know they are capable of doing it, so why not!
Online Career Mode
An Online Career Mode has long been requested by fans, but like Pro Clubs, or any game mode that isn't Ultimate Team, Career Mode has been pretty neglected by EA for quite some time. So, with the shackles off, we think it would be a raging success for EA to make an Online Career Mode for EA Sports FC.
The ability to play with friends or other online players in the Career Mode format is very appealing, and it could be the perfect refresh needed to add some life back into the game mode with some of the most loyal users.
Build your own stadium
If EA really wanted to get creative in EA Sports FC, the option for players to build and create their own stadiums should be a possibility in Career Mode. Think about it, if you manage to lead a side from League Two to Premier League glory in Career Mode, it's quite underwhelming lifting the biggest trophy in a stadium with a minuscule capacity.
The option to build your own stadium, or even expand current stadiums to have a bigger capacity could be a great option in EA Sports FC, allowing players to insert more of their own personality into the game.
Three points for quits when drawing
If EA managed to roll this out in EA Sports FC, it would likely become one of their best-ever games in a lot of players' eyes. Annoyingly, the current FIFA community can be quite toxic at times, especially in Ultimate Team, and the FUT Champions Weekend League in particular.
Some players will even go to the point of quitting a game and sacrificing the chance of victory when the game is a draw, just to make sure that the opposition doesn't win. It's extremely frustrating to play 70 in-game minutes and have nothing to show for it, because a player quit when the score is level, and this has resulted in a huge chunk of players calling for EA to award wins when the opposition quits at an even scoreline.
Not only will this award players a deserved win if the opposition quits halfway through a game, but it may also stop players from quitting when the score is level.
Referee Mode
Now, I understand that this may be a bit more difficult for EA to bring to EA Sports FC, but it would be a new game mode we have never seen before, and it would sure be a lot of fun. A referee mode would be the exact same as a player career mode, except you are controlling the man in charge of the game.
As the referee, you make all the calls, and you will be judged on whether they are correct or not. Start off as a ref in the lower divisions, and work your way up to the top.
This addition also links into the next request, which is something that could be used alongside a Referee Mode.
VAR!
Why isn't it in the game already? Nearly every major league has been using VAR for the last couple of years, so it seems right to introduce it to EA Sports FC.
It wouldn't make any difference to the way decisions currently work in-game, but it would be cool to add a new animation in-game, similar to how the goal line technology animations are currently used. And, if there was a Referee Mode, VAR could be used to help make decisions, just like in the real game.
The next Alex Hunter – A new Story Mode
In FIFA 17, a new game mode called "The Journey" was introduced, a single-player story campaign mode following the careers of Alex Hunter, Gareth Walker and Danny Williams. The story mode ran between FIFA 17 and FIFA 20 with most of its success coming in its first year, but it would be cool to see a new story mode introduced in EA Sports FC with new characters and a more in-depth story.
The previous story mode fell short because of how quickly players were able to complete it. If EA wants to bring it back and make it successful, it would need to be much longer and more detailed.
Allow more duplicates in Ultimate Team
With untradable items more common than ever before in Ultimate Team, it's not unusual to open a player pack and over 50% of the players are duplicates. It seems pointless to only be keeping half of the players you receive and discard the rest for nothing, so I think in EA Sports FC, EA should allow players to possess multiple duplicates in their club.
For example, allow players to have up to five of the same player items in their club, and put a little number icon on the card to show how many of these players you own. This way, players will be able to keep more of what they earn in packs. Obviously, you'd have to stop players having 11 Lionel Messi's in their team, but this could easily be done.
Expand the women's leagues and add a women's Career Mode
Women's Football is reaching new heights each year, and it was fantastic to see EA add both the Women's Super League (WSL) and The Division 1 Feminine into FIFA 23 as they expanded women's football content in-game. But, women's football is still just limited to kick-off, so it would be great to see more leagues added and a women's Career Mode in EA Sports FC.
There's no denying an audience is there for women's football, so it feels necessary for EA to add more women's content into their upcoming title. It seems quite a simple ask for a women's Career Mode, and if EA managed to add a huge amount of women's leagues, there's even the possibility of a women's Ultimate Team.
Classic Teams in Kick Off
In kick-off mode right now, the Soccer Aid XI is the only team containing classic players, with a collection of Ultimate Team Icons making up the team. But, how cool would it be to see classic XIs added into EA Sports FC, based on some of the best teams in the past?
The likes of Barcelona 08/09, Manchester United 98/99, Ajax 71/72 and AC Milan 89/90, the list goes on! The only issue would most likely be the licensing, but it would be a fantastic feature if EA were able to make it possible.
