From FIFA to Farce: My Final Whistle
I've been playing FIFA since I was six. My brother and I grew up with FIFA 98, and from FIFA 08 onwards, we made it a tradition to buy every new release. It wasn't just a game — it was part of our ritual, our bond.
But ever since FIFA 19, that bond has been tested — and not by opponents, but by the game itself. The gameplay has steadily collapsed under the weight of its own neglect. From cartoonish glitches like players suddenly turning on hyperspeed and zipping across a fifth of the pitch, to broken mechanics that feel less like a football sim and more like slapstick. Referees make decisions as if they're closing their eyes and spinning a wheel. Headers — once a real attacking threat — have been neutered into irrelevance; every cross is either easily intercepted or aimlessly launched into orbit, regardless of timing or positioning. And then there’s the quick sim feature — a supposedly helpful tool that instead feels like a passive-aggressive troll. Sim a match and watch your team collapse spectacularly, with scripted-seeming losses that defy logic, squad ratings, and even common sense. It’s hard not to feel like it’s intentionally broken — as if designed to frustrate you into playing manually and stretching out your hours, your patience, and your microtransaction potential.
What hurts most isn’t just the poor quality — it’s the indifference. Every year, EA asks for more money, only to deliver a product that feels less finished, less cared for. The same bugs remain. New ones are introduced. Feedback is ignored. And all of it is wrapped in the kind of polish that masks a rotting core.
At this point, EA FC doesn’t feel like a football game. It feels like an annual tax on fans’ nostalgia. And frankly, it’s exhausting. I genuinely hope FIFA finds a new developer and builds a game that finally puts EA FC out of its misery. No one deserves to keep playing a title so soulless, so creatively bankrupt, and so shamelessly marketed.
Until then, consider this my final whistle.
