EA Sports FC 25's Ultimate Edition cover has been shown off, starring a bunch of top names – including one of the stars of Euro 2024, Jude Bellingham.
He's expected to be the Standard Edition cover star, too.
The Euros might only just have ended in heartbreak for many of us and joy for a few, but the football hype machine rolls on – EA Sports is getting ready to reveal the next iteration of EA Sports FC.
FC 25 will get a full reveal trailer tomorrow, on 17 July, but ahead of that EA has already shown off the collection of stars it's gathered for the game's Ultimate Edition cover. It'll feature current superstars Jude Bellingham and Aitana Bonmati, alongside retired greats Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Gianluigi Buffon (plus the countless trophies they grabbed as a group).
It had already been heavily rumoured that Jude Bellingham would be this year's cover star for the standard edition of the game, and the Ultimate Edition seems to make that all the more likely.
Defined by silverware delivered for the club.Presenting the #FC25 Ultimate Edition Cover, featuring @GianluigiBuffon, @AitanaBonmati, @BellinghamJude, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham.See the full Reveal July 17: https://t.co/x0js9uvbhH pic.twitter.com/R4QFrutR0IJuly 15, 2024
The photo shows quite a collection of footballing talent, and goes a long way toward underlining FC 25's likely market dominance in the absence of a real competitor. The actual FIFA license is reportedly now attached to a rival, but in the absence of any announcements, there's no confirmation of who's actually developing it.
So, it looks like FC 25 will have a clear run at the market again when it arrives for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch (maybe PS4 and Xbox One for the last time, too).
It's expected to do so in late September this time around, although fans have grown used to there being days of early access for those who buy more expensive editions.
What remains to be seen, though, is what innovations EA will bring to the table for FC 25, which is the latest in a long series where the changes from year to year can sometimes be subtle to outside observers. Doubtless, there will be new animations as always, but it's always interesting to see how radical the developers are willing to be with such a safe franchise.
Going by previous years, the reveal trailer won't exactly dive deeply into that question – instead, it'll be glitzy and star-studded, with gameplay breakdowns and explanations to follow fairly shortly after in the lead-up to the game's release.
