Welcome to the EA SPORTS FC 26 Clubs Deep Dive Pitch Notes.

From revamped player progression with Archetypes to dynamic Clubs Rush Live Events, and community-requested features like support for Multiple Clubs, we’re excited to bring significant Clubs updates to FC 26.

Let’s jump into what we’re doing to make Clubs a deeper and more dynamic experience.

Archetypes
Archetype Progression
- How do I unlock Archetypes?
- How do I progress my Archetype?
- Leveling Up
- Archetypes Live Updates
- Archetype Card
- Consumables
- Signature PlayStyles & PlayStyles Slots
- Attributes
- Specializations
Signature Perks
Live Events
- How do I enter a Live Event
- Entry Requirements
- Multi-Stage Events
- Flexible Rules & House Rules Events
- Objectives & Rewards
Revamped Clubs Lobby
- Role Fit and OVR
- Match Status Widget
- New Set Piece Assignments
Multiple Clubs
- Clubs Rush & Playoff Rewards
Be-A-Goalkeeper Revamp
- Be-A-Goalkeeper in Clubs Rush
AI Facilities
- Gameplay Impact
- Other Improvements
Clubs Gameplay
- Competitive Gameplay
- Fatigue Redesigned
- Match Rating Changes
- Expanded Quick Chat Options
- CPU AI

Archetypes

Archetypes deliver a new progression system to Clubs in FC 26. You’ll be able to unlock, progress, and develop 13 distinct player Archetypes, each inspired by an ICON of world football, and each built to give you options that fit your style of play.

Each of the 13 Archetypes comes with its own set of unique characteristics, and the new customization experience gives you more control over how you develop your Pro.

Archetype Progression

How do I unlock Archetypes?

When entering Clubs for the first time, you’ll select your first Archetype.

The remaining 12 Archetypes can be obtained via Clubs Coins, FC Points, or Archetype Unlock consumable items that can be found as rewards.

How do I progress my Archetype?

Every time you play a Clubs match in EA SPORTS FC 26, you will earn Archetype XP (AXP). The more you play, the more AXP you can collect. The amount of AXP you earn will depend on:

Your Role Rating - The bulk of your AXP earnings will come from your Role Rating. Obtaining a higher rating can yield better AXP rewards.
Your Gameplay Actions - You will earn a small amount of AXP for every action you complete in a match.
Match Type – Your AXP earned via Role Rating and Gameplay Actions will differ depending on whether you’re playing a Clubs League, Playoffs, Friendly, Drop-In, Clubs Rush, or Live Event match.

You will also be able to earn AXP by playing Skill Games, though the amount that you can earn each week will be limited, just as it has been in the past.

Once you’ve earned enough AXP, your Archetype will move up to the next level.

It’s important to remember that each Archetype progresses separately. If you’ve unlocked multiple Archetypes, you’ll need to play matches with each one to level them up individually.

Leveling Up

As your progress your Archetype, you’ll receive rewards to help upgrade your attributes and abilities:

Attribute Points (AP) – AP can be spent to upgrade your attributes, taking you one step closer to unlocking more PlayStyles or even a Specialization.
Signature Playstyles Upgrades – Each of your Signature PlayStyles will upgrade to a PlayStyle+, maximizing your Archetype’s power on the pitch.
Unlock Signature Perks – Unlock extra Signature Perks to make your Archetype stand out.
Customizable PlayStyles Slots – Gain additional slots to further personalize your Archetype’s PlayStyles.

Archetypes Live Updates

At launch, each Archetype can be progressed from level 1 up to level 50.

This will give you plenty of room to grow and develop your Archetype over time, however, the journey doesn’t end there. Throughout the season, you can expect the maximum level to increase, along with more changes and updates to Archetypes, meaning you’ll have more opportunities to further upgrade and personalize your favourite Archetypes as the season goes on.

Archetype Card

Your Archetype Card is the visual representation of you and your Archetype everywhere in Clubs. As you progress, your Archetype Card will update to reflect your journey from Bronze to ICON.

Each Archetype has its own Archetype Card with a unique pose, background, and key attributes highlighted on the side to see how your Target measures up against someone else's. If you want to show off, you can customize your card with backgrounds earned through Season Pass rewards, objective rewards, or the Clubs Store.

Your Archetype Card is not just for you, it’s how other players will see you during every big moment. You can expect to see Archetype Cards throughout the match experience, showcasing your Virtual Pro, progression, and achievements in new ways.

Consumables

Consumables introduce another way to impact your Archetype progression outside of playing matches or Skill Games. Our intent with consumables is to help players who join Clubs later in the lifecycle catch up and feel like they can still make an impact.

There will be multiple Consumable types available in EA SPORTS FC 26, including:

Archetype XP (AXP) Multipliers – Boost the AXP match rewards for a set number of matches.
Direct Apply AXP – Instantly grant AXP to your active Archetype
- Note: To maintain balance, Direct Apply AXP Consumables can only be used on Archetypes under a predefined level, ensuring that the tool serves its purpose as a catch-up tool, rather than a shortcut to max level Archetypes.
Archetype Unlocks – Allow you to obtain any locked Archetype via the Archetypes Screen.
Archetype Resets – Return your spent Attribute Points to your wallet, allowing you to redistribute them as you see fit.

You can unlock these Consumables through Season Pass rewards, objective rewards, or obtain them via the Clubs Store. This ensures that all players, whether they choose to purchase consumables or not, have the means to access them.

Signature PlayStyles & PlayStyles Slots

Signature PlayStyles

Each Archetype in EA SPORTS FC 26 comes with its own set of unique Signature PlayStyles that reflect that Archetype’s style of play. These PlayStyles are automatically unlocked and equipped when you unlock your Archetype, and they’ll upgrade to PlayStyle+ as you progress with that Archetype.

While Signature PlayStyles cannot be removed, you do have the option to swap them out for a different PlayStyle+ once you unlock and equip a Specialization for that Archetype, giving you some flexibility in customizing your items as you advance.

Customizable PlayStyles Slots

On top of your Signature PlayStyles, you’ll also have Customizable PlayStyles slots that allow you to tailor your Archetype to suit your own style.

As you progress through your Archetype, the number of available Customizable PlayStyles slots increases, allowing for more flexibility in tailoring your Archetypes abilities. You can assign any PlayStyle to these slots, as long as your Archetype meets the necessary Attribute Unlock Requirements for that PlayStyle.

Any PlayStyle equipped to your Customizable Slots will not upgrade to the PlayStyle+ version of that PlayStyle.

Attribute Unlock Requirements

Each PlayStyle has specific Attribute Unlock Requirements that must be met before it can be equipped.

To unlock a PlayStyle, you need to upgrade the relevant attributes to the required value, which can be done either directly from the Edit Attributes screen or by selecting the PlayStyle directly from the Customizable PlayStyles screen (provided you have enough AP).

These requirements are consistent across all Archetypes, meaning the AP cost to unlock a PlayStyle may vary depending on the starting attribute values of the chosen Archetype.

For example, to unlock Dead Ball, you must first upgrade the attributes below.

FK Accuracy - 75
Crossing - 80
ShotPower - 80

Attributes

Min & Max Values

Each Archetype has a unique set of minimum and maximum values for all attributes, as well as unique ranges for Weak Foot and Skill Moves.

Upgrading Attributes

With Archetypes, you’ll now be able to upgrade any attribute you want.

When you level up your Archetype, you receive Attribute Points (AP) that can be used to improve any attribute directly from the Edit Attributes screen. As you increase an attribute, the AP cost for further upgrades will also rise, making higher values tougher to reach. Any upgrades you make are permanent, but if you want to reallocate your points, you can request an Archetype Reset (using Clubs Coins or a Reset Consumable), which returns all previously spent AP to your wallet.

Key Attributes

Each Archetype comes designated with four specific Key Attributes that complement the way your selected Archetype is built to play. These Key Attributes cost less AP to upgrade for that Archetype compared to others, making it more efficient to develop that Archetype in a way that suits its strengths.

Key Attributes are highlighted by default when entering the Edit Attributes screen, making them easy to identify whenever you want to upgrade.

Height & Weight

To preserve gameplay balance, each Archetype comes with its own specific range for height and weight.

While you can adjust your height or weight within this range to match your desired look or style of play, doing so will have a minor impact on a select few Attributes. These changes don’t alter the base attribute values of the Archetype itself. Instead, the adjustments are applied as a small increase or decrease to the relevant Attributes only when you enter a match in any Clubs mode, similar to how you experience a boost via Club Facilities.

Specializations

Specializations introduce three unique variants to each Archetype for you to develop toward over time, encouraging you to either break the mold or double-down on becoming the elite version of your chosen Archetype.

Attribute Unlock Requirements

Similarly to PlayStyles, Specializations are unlocked by upgrading certain attributes to the required value via the Edit Attributes screen.

For example: Upgrading Finishing, Heading Accuracy, and Volleys past the required values will transform your playmaking Maestro Archetype into a box-crashing midfielder capable of changing the game with late runs into the box from deep.

Specialization Upgrades

By unlocking a Specialization, you gain an extra Signature Perk that will be assigned to your Archetype for as long as the Specialization remains equipped, and an additional Signature PlayStyle+ that can be assigned to one of your Archetype’s Signature PlayStyle slots.

So transforming your Maestro into a Crasher will grant you First Touch+ to control those passes into the box, and the Box Crash Perk to help you slot it home.

Only one Specialization can be equipped at a time, so if you unlock more than one, you’ll need to choose which to use in order to benefit from its rewards.

Signature Perks

Signature Perks are new on-pitch abilities designed to encourage you to embody your chosen Archetype or Specialization whenever you step on the pitch.

Each Archetype comes with two Signature Perks that are unlocked through the course of your Archetype progression, while a third is equipped whenever you have a Specialization active.

There are three types of Perks:

Action-based perks activate after you perform a specific action and provide you with a temporary attribute boost. For example, the Press and Pass perk assigned to the Recycler Archetype delivers a temporary boost to Short Passing, Reactions, and Vision after regaining possession in your own half.
Mechanic-based perks trigger when using a certain control or technique. A Creator Archetype, for instance, gets a boost to Curve, Short Passing, and Long Passing when making Precision Passes in the middle third via the Precise Pass perk.
Team-focused perks benefit your teammates. If a Creator+ Specialization completes a through pass in the opponent's half, the receiver temporarily gains boosts in Finishing, Balance, and Ball Control via the Assistant perk.

Live Events

You can team up and compete in new ways with Live Events, delivering dynamic Clubs Rush tournament experiences. Each Live Event will bring new challenges with varying entry requirements, modified Rush gameplay, and alternate rules, creating fresh opportunities for you to earn rewards throughout the season.

Each Live Event comes in the form of a single-elimination knockout tournament, where your skill will be tested across a max of four Rush knockout rounds.

There’s also a brand new Rush Stadium, to give each tournament a more focused, intense atmosphere. Plus, you can celebrate on stage with your squad after a trophy win.

Event Structure

Each player starts with a limited number of attempts to win the tournament. Winning a match allows you to move on to the next round, while losing a match costs you an attempt and sends you back to the first round.

Using up all your attempts will see you are eliminated from the event, though some events will reset your available attempts after a certain period, giving you another chance to participate. The tournament can only be won by claiming victory in consecutive matches across all rounds up to and including the Final.

Event progress is tracked individually and not as a squad, and there is no time limit for starting your next match. So you can take your time editing your Archetype before attempting the next round with a new batch of teammates, just don’t wait too long, as each event will eventually expire.

How do I enter a Live Event

You’ll be able to see the full list of available and upcoming Live Events from the Live Events Tab in the Play menu. Simply select the available event you want to enter, and proceed into the lobby. From there, you can choose to invite your friends, or search for a match solo.

All matchmaking will pair you with teammates and opponents at the same tournament stage, ensuring all players know exactly what is at stake. Each Live Event will always look to ensure you have a full squad of outfield players before entering a match, but in the event that a full squad can’t be found, a team of two human players minimum can proceed with AI teammates filling the open spots.

In order to play with friends, you will need to all be at the same tournament round to proceed. If you happen to be in a later round than your lobbymates, then you can choose to reset your progress from inside the Live Event lobby in order to compete alongside them. Doing so will result in losing a tournament attempt.

Entry Requirements

Each Clubs Rush Live Event can have its own unique set of entry requirements, to increase the level of competition or introduce fun new challenges that shake up the Clubs Rush experience.

Some events may require you to increase your Clubs Rush player rank, improve your selected Archetype to a predefined level, or even require you to use a specific Archetype in order to access the event.

Multi-Stage Events

Some events may even be linked together over multiple stages, where winning the first event will unlock a higher-tier event in the future where you’ll be playing for even bigger rewards.

If you miss out on the first stage, no problem, some events will allow you to enter into a redemption stage, where you’ll get a second chance of making it to the next round.

Flexible Rules & House Rules Events

Whether it’s increasing the tension from the opening whistle by shortening the Match Length or staging Golden Goal matches, Clubs Rush Live Events are intended to give you a wide variety of experiences.

We’ll have some exciting new Rush House Rules options exclusive to Clubs Rush Live Events including:

Designated Scorer - Goals count as double when scored by your designated scorer. Stay alert, though, as the chosen player changes throughout the game.
Rugby Rush - The referee’s not watching. Dominate your opponent with powerful shoulder barges that won't get penalised.

Keep an eye out for these over the course of the FC 26 season.

Objectives & Rewards

Each Live Event will be linked to the Clubs Objectives system inside of FC Hub, providing you with more reason to put together a squad and take on the latest tournament. Rewards will vary from event to event, giving you the opportunity to earn cosmetic items for your Pro, Archetype card backgrounds, or even Consumables to help boost your Archetype’s progression.

Revamped Clubs Lobby

The Clubs Lobby has been redesigned for a cleaner layout and improved functionality.

Role Fit and OVR

You can check how well your Archetype selection fits the position & role of each vacant position in your club’s chosen tactic. Simply highlight any vacant position on the lobby pitch to observe your Role Fit.

Perfect Fit - Your Archetype is a perfect match for this role and position.
Good Fit - Your Archetype is a good fit for this position, but perhaps not the ideal role.
Okay Fit - Your Archetype is not particularly suited to this role or position.
Bad Fit - Out of Position

Similarly, when navigating vacant positions on the lobby pitch, you can observe your Archetype’s OVR value for the highlighted position.

Match Status Widget

Receive real-time updates from in-progress matches, and monitor the status of Clubs League matchmaking or Friendly Challenge requests via the new Match Status Widget.

New Set Piece Assignments

A number of new Set Pieces assignments have been added to the Assignments tab, giving you more control over your routines.

2 new Attacking Corner Kick assignments
- Top of Box
- Defensive Cover
- 5 total (Near Post, Back Post, Target Player, Top of Box, Defensive Cover)
4 separate Defensive Corner Kick assignments
- Threat Marker
- Post Watcher
- Near Post
- Back Post
Left Throw-in Taker
Right Throw-in Taker

Multiple Clubs

You can now be a member of up to three clubs at any time, and can freely switch between them using the Switch Clubs function inside the Clubs menus.

Clubs Rush & Playoff Rewards

You will only be able to earn Clubs Rush & Clubs Playoffs rewards on behalf of a single favourite club that’s selectable from the Switch Clubs screen.

You can switch your favourite club at any time during the season but you’ll need to make sure it’s set to the one you want before rewards are distributed at season’s end.

Be-A-Goalkeeper Revamp

There are a lot of updates to the Be-A-Goalkeeper (BAG) experience in FC 26, including new controls and assistance levels, PlayStyles for BAG, revamped UI components and updated presentation, featuring unique camera and audio treatments.

For full details of the revamped Be-A-Goalkeeper experience, check out the Gameplay Deep Dive Pitch Notes.

Be-A-Goalkeeper in Clubs Rush

Be-A-Goalkeeper (BAG) players will now be able to test their ability on the Rush pitch exclusively in Clubs Rush. In support of this, the Clubs Rush matchmaking experience has undergone a few changes:

The maximum lobby size has increased to 5 players (though 1 must be using a GK Archetype in order to proceed to a match).
Whether your squad has a goalkeeper or not, matchmaking will attempt to find a squad similar to yours.
If your group would prefer to play without a goalkeeper, you can disable the ‘Find GK’ setting inside your Clubs Rush lobby.

AI Facilities

Facilities are being expanded in FC 26 with the introduction of AI Facilities that boost the attributes for your AI teammates. With the Facility budget now shared between AI and Player Facility upgrades, club managers now have a lot more to think about when deciding how to best allocate their resources.

Gameplay Impact

AI Facilities are similar to Player Facilities, but with a few key differences:

AI Facility upgrades will only come in the form of attribute increases.
AI Facility upgrades are position-group specific, meaning you will have a group of Facilities dedicated to improving your Forwards, while another will be solely dedicated to training your Goalkeeper. So be sure to consider the position you and your clubmates will be taking up when allocating your budget.

Other Improvements

In response to community feedback, Player Facilities have also been rebalanced to provide more consistent value.

Look out for more updates to Club Facilities throughout the FC 26 season.

Clubs Gameplay

Competitive Gameplay

Competitive Gameplay is mandatory/locked in Clubs in FC 26.

Our goal with Competitive Gameplay is to create a more competitive experience by reducing the impact of randomness and assistance. This is an experience tailored for players who enjoy fast-paced, responsive gameplay.

The changes to Competitive Gameplay aim to deliver on the three competitive community priorities: Responsiveness, Consistency, and Control.

For more details regarding Competitive Gameplay, check out our Gameplay Deep Dive Pitch Notes.

Fatigue Redesigned

The impact of Fatigue will be redefined on the Competitive Gameplay experience in FC 26 to support our goal of improving responsiveness across the game.

When controlling your Pro:

Short-term fatigue will continue to work as before.
- For example, when short-term stamina depletes, you will be slower when running until the fatigue bar recovers.
You will no longer experience loss of Long-Term Fatigue.
This applies to any time you are controlling a player, even if you are “Any” (alternating between players).

For AI:

AI Players have a reduction in Sprint Speed and Acceleration when fatigued (proportional to the fatigue level).
Long-term and short-term fatigue are in effect.

PlayStyles and Attributes

Relentless and Relentless+ PlayStyles have been changed to increase how quickly your short-term fatigue recovers (more details in the PlayStyles section of the Gameplay Deep Dive).
The Stamina attribute will continue to work as before, for example when determining how quickly your stamina bar depletes.

Match Rating Changes

Match Rating in Clubs has been redefined as Role Rating for FC 26, meaning each player’s performance will now be related to the actions that matter the most to their assigned Role (e.g. Box-to-Box, Playmaker, Inside Forward, etc).

To ensure you are getting a rating that is based on the actions that matter to your role, we created several different categories: Goalkeeping, Defending, Dribbling, Shooting, Passing, and a unique group that includes stats such as Goals scored or conceded by the team, red cards, and even individual Goals or Assists. These will impact all players equally.

You can find a breakdown of these ratings and how much they contribute to the total rating in the Performance screens during a match.

Some similar Roles will be grouped together. For example, the rating of a CB with Defender or Stopper will be primarily based on their defensive actions, while the rating of a Ball-Playing CB will also consider the effectiveness of their passing.

As an example, let's take two Central Midfielders who performed exactly the same in the same match, creating a number of key chances and providing an assist while performing identically in defense. One has been assigned the Box-to-Box role, while the other has been assigned the Playmaker role.

Box-To-Box - Defensive and attacking actions are rated equally.
- This player may receive a Match Rating of 8.0 for their performance.
Playmaker - Creative actions like through-passes, assists, and dictating the pace of play are weighted more heavily than defensive actions.
- This player may receive a Match Rating of 8.5 for their performance due to the increased value of chance creation when assessing this role.

Expanded Quick Chat Options

We have added four diverse Quick Chat categories, each featuring four messages for a deeper Social experience. After pressing a direction on the D-Pad a set of new messages will be selectable to provide further communication options to your teammates.

Instructions (yellow)

Keep it simple
Drop back
Passing game
Push up

Compliments (cyan)

Golazo
Thanks
Let's go
What a save

Encouragement (magenta)

Lock in
Shake it off
My bad
Unlucky

Celebrations (green)

Cold
Joga bonito
GOAT
GG

CPU AI

The Clubs CPU AI has received some improvements to the Call-for-Pass system, making the CPU more intelligent when considering pass requests and preferring better options when multiple requests come in at the same time.

This improvement extends to both Clubs and Rush, ensuring the CPU Goalkeeper will choose better pass options when players spam the pass request.

Thank you for taking the time to dive into the Clubs Pitch Notes. Be sure to check out the EA SPORTS FC Feedback Hub for all the ways you can share your feedback with us.

Table of Contents

Archetypes

Archetype Progression

How do I unlock Archetypes?

How do I progress my Archetype?

Leveling Up

Archetypes Live Updates

Archetype Card

Consumables

Signature PlayStyles & PlayStyles Slots

Signature PlayStyles

Customizable PlayStyles Slots

Attribute Unlock Requirements

Attributes

Min & Max Values

Upgrading Attributes

Key Attributes

Height & Weight

Specializations

Attribute Unlock Requirements

Specialization Upgrades

Signature Perks

Live Events

How do I enter a Live Event

Entry Requirements

Multi-Stage Events

Flexible Rules & House Rules Events

Objectives & Rewards

Revamped Clubs Lobby

Role Fit and OVR

Match Status Widget

New Set Piece Assignments

Multiple Clubs

Clubs Rush & Playoff Rewards

Be-A-Goalkeeper Revamp

Be-A-Goalkeeper in Clubs Rush

AI Facilities

Gameplay Impact

Other Improvements

Clubs Gameplay

Competitive Gameplay

Fatigue Redesigned

Match Rating Changes

Expanded Quick Chat Options

CPU AI

Blog Post

EA SPORTS FC™ 26 | Clubs Deep Dive