VAR is a huge part of football today, so it feels odd that a game aiming for realism still doesn’t include it.
I get the argument that “the game doesn’t make mistakes,” but then why do goalkeepers mess up? And why was goal-line tech added before?
VAR adds drama and realism therefore why leave it out?
You’re absolutely right – VAR is a big part of football today, and just “auto-triggering” it in-game would feel flat and take away the drama.
Here’s my take:
Introduce a Referee Career Mode, similar to Player Career, where real players can take on the role of referees and actually officiate matches – including in Ultimate Team and Pro Clubs.
That way, VAR wouldn’t just be an automated cutscene – it would be a human-driven decision. The referee (a real player) would choose when to review incidents, making VAR feel dynamic and unpredictable, just like real football.
Key Benefits:
Fresh Experience: Adds an entirely new way to play, beyond just being a player or manager.
Realism: Human refs bring authentic decision-making (and occasional mistakes), adding drama.
Progression: Refs could be ranked and rewarded based on fair calls and good performance.
Strategic VAR: Teams could request reviews, but refs decide – creating tension and excitement.
Potential Challenges & Solutions:
Biased Calls? → Use a player rating system. Low-rated refs get demoted, top-rated refs get high-stakes matches.
Slow Gameplay? → Limit VAR checks to 15 seconds and max 3 uses per match.
Low Participation? → Offer rewards (coins, packs, cosmetics) to encourage players to try refereeing. This way, VAR isn’t just “press X to watch replay” – it becomes part of the gameplay, a skill-based feature that can change the course of a match.
Adding VAR sounds like a fancy addition and would make the game more realistic, but i don’t think VAR is needed in a video game. Not because i think it requires huge work, it is their job to put in work if something that will make the game better needs to be added, but because i think it would ruin the feel of the game.
in order to add VAR, referees need to make mistakes, goals that are offside would stand until there’s an on-field review, and yellow cards will have to be reviewed and upgraded to a red card after a review, etc. The right decisions are already coded into the game and it works great that way, so better to move on with that. VAR reviews could stir up uncertainties, take up time and make the game somewhat boring.
I agree with cordeezy28.
And I don't know about everyone else, but in my experience, video game replay reviews tend to have no impact on the decision, meaning they hardly ever overturn bad calls, even when they are blatant. Probably because the original calls are coded in. And who wants to score a late equalizer and have all of the celebration ensue, only for it to be ruled out for an offside that should have been already called. As the other user said, it's a computer, there's no use in having the same system go behind itself to cover computer error.
Also, I am firmly against flopping, and if it is added, there should be an option to disable it for your players.
All the best to everyone!
Maybe they could add in diving then decisions could go for or against you. Now that would be realistic. But in terms of VAR, I just think that they spend all their time to make the game perfect why would they hinder that for something general fans might hate due to how long games might get etc. I personally would love it if the referees were scanned so we could have real life referees in the game like Michael Oliver, Anthony Taylor, Chris Kavanaugh to name a few.
I think because it is a game and VAR shouldn't be needed? We need VAR in a game that is officiated and judged by humans. I feel like VAR shouldn't be necessary in a video game because they can code in what is a goal and what is not a goal.
No man. This wouldn't take long, all they have to do is make a some cut scenes. They already have the goal-line technology implemented. So, all you really need is a cut scene where the ref goes and looks at some monitors
Deal with the coding over a number of years and then insert it to something like FC29+ just an idea
these same ideas will make EA Sports spend a lot to simulate this kind of realism. It would take many years of work, and since the game is released every year, it’s impossible for them to complete all the coding in just one year.
