A goodbye note to EA and FIFA

I love football and everything surrounding it. I’ve been playing it on the field, religiously following it, and playing FIFA like many others. I’ve been playing FIFA since 2002, mostly couch-playing with friends during school and college.

As life moved on, we all moved out of our homes and got busy with work and family. But the passion for football never faded. From watching late-night matches to playing over the weekends, or jumping on FIFA with friends late at night, the love for the game always remained.

My friends are now based in different cities and have their own jobs and families. Yet, every weekend we still manage to find 2–3 hours to play FIFA online together. During those few hours, we go back to the joy of being children again, doing something we all love together.

That was the case until recently.

When EA FC 26 was released, we were all excited to try the new game. But the moment we started playing, the gameplay was laggy with constant input delays. We tried helping each other troubleshoot the issue and even watched several YouTube videos for solutions. Some of us play on PC and others on PS5. One of my friends even upgraded his PC just so he could play FIFA with us.

But nothing helped. The gameplay is still laggy, and the input delays make it almost unplayable. On top of that, the previous game’s servers no longer allow online play.

Feeling hopeless, I’m writing this: for us, EA FC 26 is DEAD. The gameplay is laggy and pathetic. My friends and I won’t be spending any more money on EA FC. We’ll try playing something else—or maybe go back to the older FIFA games.

EA FC 26 is the worst FIFA game we’ve experienced.