EA Sports FC 27 Preview: What to expect from Football Ultimate Team and the path ahead?

For the past couple of weeks, we've been rather extensively covering EA Sports FC 27, all following the game initially being revealed. Over this week alone, we've published previews dedicated to the new The Grounds mode, but also to the changes in store for Career Mode and in the gameplay in general. Now it's time to hone in and focus on perhaps the most visible mode in all of an EA Sports FC title: Football Ultimate Team (FUT).

The uninitiated may not be aware of FUT, and if that is the case, this is the mode where players collect cards depicting real-world footballers, all before using these cards to build out their own Ultimate Team to compete in online matches and tournaments. It's the mode that often draws the most criticism considering cards packs can be purchased with premium currency and real money, leading to a pay-to-win advantage for those looking to put their hard-earned cash on the line, all while the mode is effectively reset each instalment. Despite this however, FUT continues to be an immensely popular mode year-after-year, and in EA Sports FC 27, it will be offering up a few major changes and additions.

How is EA Sports FC 27's FUT changing?

The main big addition comes in the new FUT Gallery mechanic. This is effectively a glorified museum feature where players can display their gathered cards as part of defined sets, even receiving a grade for their collection that leads to rewards and extra goodies. In a similar vein to how FUT team structure is offered, to complete a set you will need to select cards from your collection to complete the requirements of a set, which could for example be an all-LaLiga team, with players from Real Madrid, Atletico de Madrid, and more. The catch is the better-rated a card is, the better your end grade will be, so in this instance it's highly likely a high-grade LaLiga set will be made up of Real Madrid stars considering FC Barcelona is aligned with eFootball.

While you can select any relevant players to complete a set, the rarer a card, the higher the end grade will be. Hence why Icon and Team of the Week/Season cards will have a greater impact on your set score. In fact, you can even activate Team of the Week status to improve the grade of each set and tap into the greater rewards on offer. Also, to help achieve higher grades, a new card type is being introduced and known as Holographic, which are incredibly rare cards able to provide a massive boost to grading.

Building on all this, the Hall of FUT is being introduced to open access to iconic players and cards. There will be 17 players available through this feature at launch, but EA does promise plans to rework and rebalance all Icons to make them feel more usable in an EA Sports FC era where Playstyles and such dominate the action.

Next up is then the inclusion of single-player live events against real-world clubs, which are a little similar to F1 Manager's Scenarios system. The idea is that your FUT side is tasked with completing a real-world-inspired or accurate slate of events, including the UCL Road to the Final, where several major opponents are in store all before a showdown against Paris Saint-Germain in the conclusive match. There will be different difficulties on offer for this mode so you can push yourself to the limit that suits you.

Otherwise, expect streamlined squad building challenges (SBCs), where chemistry and position requirements are being removed. The idea is to make it easier to build a true Ultimate Team without having to select players and cards to conform to the demands in place by the system rules, and all in a faster and more flexible manner. In a similar vein, there are also plans in place to introduce more meaningful items that stay relevant for longer, with end-game items having a 20% decrease in boost, while upgrades are more focussed to ensure player identity is retained. EA even notes there will be five fewer campaign weeks, meaning the demand on regular log-ins and play is being reduced.

As for squad development, the key word is consistency. The aim now is to ensure upgrades are more meaningful, with a slower progression to a strong side but a faster progression to elite status. A rebalance to the progression system is also noted, with this designed to ensure no feature invalidates another, ultimately making for smaller squads with a tighter OVR spread. And speaking about squad development, players will have more control over how they evolve a player card, with branching upgrade paths on hand where you can choose the direction you want to grow a player while previewable evolution-chains let you plan ahead. This is all while Playstyles Lab returns to FUT as a recurring experience from launch, with it designed to enhance a player's identity by enabling them to invest in higher impact Playstyles and meaningful improvements.

Lastly, rewards. The aim now is to deliver rewards more consistently with more coins and SP after every match, plus options to earn even more FUT coins and tradeable packs, with evergreen and time-limited tokens and currency also being promised. Essentially, play your way, with a reduction in stress and gameplay demand, and still meaningful rewards.

What else is there to know about EA Sports FC 27?

While we'll be able to share even more about The Grounds in given time, for now there are a few other promised improvements and enhancements coming in this next instalment in the series, spanning EA Sports FC Mobile, Steam support, communication, and the live-service road ahead.

What's there to know about EA Sports FC 27 on Steam?

This is simple: EA wants to optimise the EA Sports FC experience on Steam. This will be coming by ensuring this year's instalment launches around 50% faster and has seamless connection with Steam friends. But there's more, as the PC version will also be able to take full advantage of the power of the platform where applicable with Ultra graphics that add an extra level to player skin, pitch detail, stadium fidelity, and more. This is then emboldened even further with a promise to be better optimised for the wide array of hardware on PC, all to deliver a smoother, more consistent experience.

How is EA Sports FC Mobile changing?

The key thing to know is this mobile experience is going beyond the actual video game to incorporate live broadcasts and live scores/results, meaning players won't need to leave the app to check the latest information. There will seemingly even be a connection with Apple TV and the MLS.

As for the game itself, expect faster match options, streamlined matchmaking, and simplified invites to make finding games with or without friends even easier. Plus, in an effort to tap into the global and local reach of the mobile project, there will be an even greater focus on local events.

Communication from EA Sports is changing but what does that entail?

There are few things to note on this front, mainly that the developers intend to take on even more feedback and criticism. They claim to be available to receive feedback 24/7 and 365 days a year, with any changes they make to the game being communicated across a broader array of platforms.

Similarly, expect more regular title updates and gameplay improvements, with deeper visibility into upcoming Seasons, features, and major moments. This is all beginning with...

EA Sports FC 27 won't launch until September but what should we expect from the road ahead?

...A rather extensive live-service roadmap. Yep, launch won't even happen until late September (mid-September for Ultimate Edition adopters), but we already have a pretty good idea of what to expect from EA Sports FC 27 until March 2027. Check out a summary of the live-service roadmap below.

• Season 1 (September-October) - Launch; Future Stars FUT campaign; UEFA European Nights The Grounds campaign


• Season 2 (October-November) - Ultimate Scream FUT campaign; Hall of FUT campaign; Screaming Grounds The Grounds campaign


• Season 3 (December-January) - Winter Wildcards FUT campaign; Frozen Grounds The Grounds campaign; Live Events update for FUT; Streamlined SBCs update for FUT; additional commentator for entire game


• Season 4 (January-February) - Team of the Year campaign for FUT and The Grounds; Custom Gameplay Live Events FUT update; End of Match Rewards FUT update; Youth Player Visual Customisation Career update; Create Player Photofit FC update; The Grounds update including Own the Pitch mode, new Archetypes, Drop Kick Targets update, and a stats profile


• Season 5 (March onwards) - TBC

This is then on top of all-year-round balancing, quality-of-life improvements, Career Creator challenges, live starting points, new The Grounds kickabouts, The Grounds live events, and more from FUT live-service.

Needless to say, EA Sports FC 27 is going to be an absolutely massive game and a title that will surely hold the attention of many fans for its life-cycle.