EA Sports Needs to Take a Year off After EA FC 25 to Revitalize the Series

EA FC 25 has officially been released for all the consumers who have paid $100 for the game. However, after all these years, the question is still the same for many users: is it worth it?

If you have been keeping up with EA Sports’ cash cow (that stands tall only because there is virtually no competition), you know the answer is not that simple. Is there simply no scope left to innovate or is EA deliberately releasing a one-trick pony each year?

I Have Not Come across a Title Worse Than EA FC 24, and I Am Confident That EA FC 25 Is the Same Game

Last year, there were innumerable complaints and rants, not just from the EA Sports FC community but also from content creators. Creators who live and breathe the game stream it for multiple hours daily. There are people like Vapex Karma, Inception FC, NickRTFM, the list goes on and on.

Last year was the first time in my 13 years of owning FIFA titles that I left the game before Futties (the game’s endgame campaign). The game was absolute garbage, to the point that the game’s major game mode, Ultimate Team (also known as the slot machine simulator), was not even remotely close to a real-life football match.

Every player had to play like they recently had a concussion. Everybody had a high line, every player had a gigantic 6’4 striker at the front, everyone was crossing, spamming stepovers and Berba Spin Cancels, and there was zero nuance in the game. None!

And the worst of all is the incredibly glitchy, inconsistent, and below playable gameplay. The game’s AI was forcing people to player-lock their way into the opponent’s half, further reducing the skill gap. It was horrendous. Take a look at this clip, this was every third game in EA Sports FC 24.

Also, everyone knows about the TOTY Messi glitch or the Ligue 1 TOTS rewards fiasco that led to EA lowering the pack weight so that players would spend real money and open more packs.

The game was anything but similar to real-world football that everyone knows and loves. The result? A game that fell off, both in terms of user retention and quality.

EA FC 25 Is a Testament to EA Turning a Deaf Ear to User Feedback and Complaints From Last Year

The reveal of EA’s latest technology coming to EA FC 25, FC IQ, seems to be a step backward for the game. This can be seen in the trailer at the 1:20 mark.

The following image, which is a snapshot taken from one of the game’s many trailers, highlights the problem with FC IQ very well. Here, the full-back (see the red rectangle) is racing against the player they are meant to cover, and the center back in yellow isn’t moving backward to cover space.

It may be that the footage used for the trailer can’t be taken seriously, but it is not just the video that can be used to highlight the sheer absence of offensive and defensive AI in the game. For reference, take a look at the editorial I wrote about the community’s reaction towards EA Sports FC 24.

These are the same issues I had highlighted then, and they persist. Not just that, reputed video game content creator accounts on social media platforms are reporting the same thing.

🚨 Many game testers feel gameplay is a complete ‘copy and paste’ for EA FC 25 from EA FC 24, with the introduction of FC IQ. 😟 #FC25 pic.twitter.com/YjxEGfww5M

— FGZ ⚽️🎮 (@FGZNews) July 18, 2024

Moreover, the real bad news for EA Sports FC enthusiasts like myself is the company pretending that glitches, inconsistent gameplay, and frequent disconnects are non-issues.

The overall formula of the EA FC series needs to undergo a massive overhaul, otherwise, the game is as good as dead. At this point, EA is only adding more animations using Hypermotion, reworking ranked match structures, and offering zero innovation that the game so desperately needs.

From a football game, EA Sports has turned EA FC into a card-collecting game. Because people spend more time trying to get better cards by menu grinds and microtransactions instead of playing the game.

To make the franchise great again, the focus needs to be on gameplay and nothing else. What do you have to say about the state of the EA FC series? Do you think there is still hope that EA will improve upon the game or is it a lost cause? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!