EA Sports FC 26’s hype machine has officially been switched to its ‘on’ position, with a first trailer – featuring a smattering of gameplay from this year’s iteration – and plenty of promises around “innovations powered by community feedback”. That’s alongside confirmation of a 26th September launch on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC.
The trailer itself immediately kicks off with a cheeky wink to fans’ demands for gameplay, before showing just that, albeit amid various cinematic bits, and plenty of other onscreen chaos. The big theme this time around, though, is that EA has – so it suggests – really, listened to fans, with promise of an “overhauled gameplay experience, powered by [community] feedback”.
The top-level stuff includes “refined gameplay fundamentals”, including “improved dribbling responsiveness and fluidity, re-tuned run curves for more explosive player movement, all new reinforcement-learning-driven goalkeeper positioning, close-body volumetric animations, [and] more versatile Playstyles and Player Roles”. But EA’s announcement goes further, with talk of new Competitive and Authentic gameplay presets – the first (designed for Football Ultimate Team and Clubs) being focused on “consistency and enhanced responsiveness”, while the latter promises “the most true-to-football experience ever in Career”.
Elsewhere, Manager Career gets a new Manager Live “hub”, promising regularly released new scenarios and “ever-changing variable-length Challenges”, and there are new classes – Archetypes – for Clubs and Player Career. “Develop your abilities,” EA says, “by upgrading attributes and unlocking Archetype Perks to give your player a distinct feel on the pitch.”