How to fix EA Sports FC
Hi,
I'm an Ultimate Team player who has played since I was young in FIFA 17. We are coming up to 10 years since I first played the game, and it saddens me that I haven't played FC 26 since November.
FC (then called FIFA) was a huge part of my life a few years ago and was a part of my day that I genuinely looked forward to. This isn't the case anymore, yet I still want to have an FC game that I truly enjoy and want to play, so I have created a summary of my ideas to help improve the game.
Myself and many others want nothing more than a game that we look forward to playing once again; a game that is fair, rewarding, but also competitive.
The Core Problem
We all know that the issue with FC currently is the lack of reason for players to log on each day and play.
In older versions of the game such as FIFA 20 and 21, I remember logging on every day at 6pm as well as being excited to open rewards on Thursday. This is because the rewards actually felt rewarding. It was hard to get new players, as there weren't unlimited store packs to pay for, nor were there tens of player SBCs to complete. The top players were truly elite and hard to get, which is why most players used gold cards until TOTS and were genuinely excited when packing a special card.
The issue now is that the power curve is completely wrong. The introduction of new modes has made the game more "grindable", however the rewards are simply too good. Progression happens far too quickly, meaning players constantly have the best players rather than gradually improving over the year. The content no longer feels meaningful; and the Ultimate team excitement has sadly gone for most of us.
Rewards & Power Curve
Champs and Rivals rewards should stay good, but not too good (such as no more guaranteed 88+ players). Champs should have red picks and some packs so that you aren't making 200k a week after getting only six wins. I believe 20 Champs games and reasons to grind Rivals should make up the base of the game. The other modes such as tournaments and gauntlets are also fine but should be kept exclusive, such as once every two weeks and only one at a time to make them feel more important.
I remember five or six years ago, I was at school and only played a few hours a day, if that, yet I managed to fully complete all objectives at the start of the game. This shows two things:
- The rewards were worth grinding because even an 82-rated player would be a slight upgrade on my team.
- There weren't so many objectives that it became overwhelming and impossible to complete.
Now, I logged back on for the first time since November, and there seems to be far too much content to play. That is fine, except the rewards are far too good, which again ruins the power curve and makes the best players far too accessible.
I suggest keeping objectives to worse packs because our teams will be worse. This gives us a reason to grind without handing out guaranteed players that instantly improve your team. Imagine I have a meta 81-rated right winger and then pack a promo 83-rated player. It's not the best player compared to end-game cards, but it's perfect for that stage of the game and slowly improves my team rather than jumping from an 81 straight to an 87.
The power curve must be slow and consistent, carrying early players all the way through the year to keep the value of all players throughout the game cycle. Another quick point is that I think meta low-rated golds should be much harder to pack, such as Van de Ven. Really, he is the type of player that should stay around 200k until the New Year, as has happened in older games. This gives an incentive to still open packs between promos (I will come to this later) and also helps slow the power curve so everyone doesn't have the best gold team within two weeks before complaining about the lack of content.
Packs & Store
Packs are fairly simple.
Remove all the new promo packs and replace them with the original Lightning Rounds during promos. Perhaps just 25k, 45k, 50k and 100k packs.
This still gives content creators and spenders an advantage and justifies spending money, similar to FIFA 17 pack openings, which had some of the highest view counts in FIFA history. However, it doesn't make the best players too accessible or unnecessarily increase the power curve, creating an unfair advantage to spenders which ruins the game for the grinders.
SBCs
I think there should be fewer player SBCs released.
Perhaps only two or three promo players per week, alongside something such as a Party Bag or Player Pick once or twice every month. These means that the players packed or completed feel special and players can build a connection with them rather than them just being easily done. Icon Picks should be much rarer, with elite Icon SBCs feeling genuinely special again. This means the best players aren't as easy to obtain, and SBCs actually mean something again.
I used to look forward to Marquee Matchups all week because they were one of the best opportunities to pack valuable players for SBCs. Although there was less content, it actually made the SBCs that did release feel special. I used to count down to 6pm every day because I was excited to see a new SBC or objective. Now, there is always another guaranteed special pack or another top player SBC, meaning nothing really stands out anymore.
Promos
Promos are good and fun, but they must remain special.
We used to have one or two promos per month that lasted a week. The time between promos made us look forward to them even more and gave them a genuinely exciting feeling. Of course, promos make money through packs, but if you want customers to truly enjoy the game, make promos rarer. Players will genuinely grind to obtain these players rather than simply buying guaranteed store packs. Having the very best players remains extremely rare should be prioritised because it makes elite players actually feel elite. The lower-tier promo players should still be obtainable and useful for squad building and pack excitement, but everything should contribute to a slower and healthier power curve.
Evolutions
The whole point of Evolutions was to upgrade players who otherwise wouldn't be used, allowing players to improve footballers they personally have a connection with.
For example, taking a 60-rated player and upgrading them into an 80-rated usable card. It can also be used later in the game cycle to upgrade early promo cards or gold cards through individual stat boosts or PlayStyles. Evolution cards should never become better than promo cards or elite players. I think Evolutions should cost a maximum of 50k and only allow players to reach the baseline of the current power curve.
For example:
- September: around 78 rated
- December: around 83–84 rated
- TOTS: around 86–87 rated
This allows people to make their favourite real-life players usable without making them the best player in their team, while also giving spenders more incentive to pay for the very best cards.
Season Pass
Please go back to the old Season Pass.
There should not be a paid Season Pass because it isn't fair that players who grind the game without spending money receive worse rewards than someone who reaches Level 20, buys the Premium Pass, gets the SP boosts and suddenly reaches max level to receive an Icon. I think there should simply be one Season Pass that rewards players for grinding the game. The rewards should be solid players that fit into most teams but are never the absolute best cards available. The final reward should be a slightly above-average player that rewards commitment without significantly increasing the power curve.
Champions
Finally, please remove Challengers.
Champions should feel elite but still be accessible if players are willing to improve and qualify. I also believe 20 Champions matches should remain the core competitive mode, alongside meaningful Rivals rewards.
Closing
I hope you take this into consideration. I just wanted to share my thoughts because I genuinely want to enjoy the game again, along with the wider community.
Thank you for taking the time to read this feedback.
