The long-running EA Sports FIFA series is coming to a close, with a new era for football games beginning with EA FC 24.
For the last 30 years, EA Sports has been synonymous with the FIFA name, but after the two parted ways and put an end to their 30-year partnership last year, EA is moving forward with a new game series, EA Sports FC. FIFA 23 is confirmed to be the final instalment of the popular FIFA video game series, with EA now turning all its attention towards EA FC 24, the FIFA 23 replacement as the latter's cycle starts to run down.
FIFA and EA ended their three-decade relationship after the publisher decided it didn't want to "pay a premium" to license the FIFA branding. Instead, EA opted to move forward with EA FC 24, retaining its relationship with its 300-plus license partners, meaning the authenticity we associated with EA's FIFA titles will remain in the new series.
As we entered July, EA marked the beginning of the EA FC era by changing all its social handles and replacing 'FIFA' with 'FC', with more information regarding the new game slowly being released ever since. Rumours and leaks ahead of the release remain present as ever, and we'll be digging into the credible ones to paint a picture of what we can expect when the game releases next year.
EA FC 24: official logo leaked
Replacing the big FIFA branding on the cover of its game was always going to prove a tough task for EA, but an official logo for EA FC 24 was unveiled in April, confirming the abbreviated name for the game will be 'FC'. EA claims that its new logo takes inspiration directly from one of the most dominant shapes in football culture – triangles.
More recently, prominent and reliable leaker @PlayStationSize, who has a proven track record of revealing future updates and when games are added to the PlayStation database, has seemingly revealed the official EA FC 24 logo which has been added to the code. A slightly different take on the EA FC logo, the EA FC 24 logo looks extremely similar to the FIFA 23 logo.
EA FC 24: release date
While we don't have a confirmed release date from EA yet, a leak from the extremely reliable @billbil_kun (via Dealabs) has announced the release date and early access date for EA FC 24. According to the leaker, the game will be released on Friday, September 29, 2023, around the same time in which past FIFA titles have been released.
The leaker also revealed that there would be two versions of EA FC 24, a Standard and Ultimate Edition, and players who pre-order the latter will be able to access the game on Friday, September 22, 2023, seven days prior to the worldwide release. This is four days more early access than players got in FIFA 23, and EA Play members will reportedly be able to access their 10-hour trial of EA FC 24 from the same date.
EA FC 24: leaks
As we entered July, a huge number of leaks regarding EA FC 24 started circulating, with @billbil_kun (via Dealabs) the source again. The leaker announced that after a three-year stint as the cover star of FIFA titles, Kylian Mbappe's reign would be coming to an end in EA FC 24, with Manchester City's Erling Haaland replacing the Frenchman.
Haaland is set to be the sole star on the Standard Edition, with the image of Haaland taking a shot in a Champions League game with one arm raised in the air (pretty much your typical action shot). Haaland will also be front and centre on the Ultimate Edition cover, but the striker will be joined by 30 (yes, 30) other players, from current men and women players to legends of the game.
Potentially like the floating head movie posters that Marvel is known for, the 30 other players will all appear as their characters from EA FC 24, with the likes of Vinicius Jr, Son Heung-min, Sam Kerr, Zinedine Zidane, Johan Cruyff and Pele all reportedly featuring on the Ultimate Edition cover.
In the same article, the leaker also revealed the reported price of EA FC 24 on PC, with the Standard Edition set to cost £59.99 / $69.99 / AU$109.95 for PC players whilst the Ultimate Edition will cost £89.99 / $99.99 / AU$149.95. This would make EA FC 24 the most expensive football game EA has ever released.
The leaker also announced that players will be able to pre-order EA FC 24 from Thursday, June 13, the same date that EA FC 24 is revealed by EA (though it appears we know most of it already).
There are lots of rumours circulating about FC, including new game modes, new features and more. With little to nothing being announced by EA, nothing can be confirmed, but reliable leaker @FutSheriff has 'leaked' some exciting information regarding Ultimate Team in the new title.
With the vast improvement of women's football in FIFA 23, it was always expected that EA would continue to increase their coverage in FC. And, according to the leaker, that is exactly what will happen, with women ICONs set to feature in Ultimate Team.
If this is true, you'd expect that this also means current women players will also feature in Ultimate Team. There was no added information regarding this being in a separate women's Ultimate Team game mode or if they would join the men, but if true, it would be very exciting.
@Futsheriff has also leaked a new feature for Ultimate Team in FC called 'Academy'. Similar to the Future Stars Academy Objectives in FIFA 23, you will be able to choose a player and level him up over the course of the year.
Another new addition that could be coming to Ultimate Team in FC is a new Traits system, with the leaker comparing it to Badges in NBA 2K23 or X-Factor skills in NHL 23. The new Traits system is set to introduce a new level of player authenticity with unique animations and noticeable gameplay benefits, adding new behaviors and boosts that were not possible on FIFA 23.
There will reportedly be two types of Traits (Base and Icon) and seven different categories (Scoring, Passing, Defending, Dribbling, Physical, Goalkeeping & FUT Specific Gameplay). According to the leaker, these are some of the traits currently in 'testing'.
- Team Captain - Boosts low chemistry players (Players on 0/3 chemistry improve to 1/3, Players on 1/3 improve to 2/3)
- League Star - Gives +1 Boost to all players in their league
- Lone Wolf - Chemistry boost to players with no team or country-mates
- Team Sprinting - All players have a stamina boost
- Super Sub - Players come off the bench with full chemistry
- Flexible - Players will automatically change to the position they are placed in the starting XI
None of this information is confirmed in any way, and we will have to wait until EA makes an official announcement to see what new features could be arriving in EA FC 24.
EA FC 24: game modes
EA has confirmed that FIFA fans can expect to see all of their favourite game modes feature in EA FC 24, as well as some new ones. Although the nature of the new mode (or modes) has yet to be shared. None of the modes we're familiar with in FIFA are being removed, so here's what EA FC 24 modes are looking like so far based on the 11 modes available in FIFA 23 – although we're not counting FIFA World Cup because of the breakup:
- Kick-Off
- Online Friendlies
- Tournaments
- Skill Games
- Practice Arena
- VOLTA FOOTBALL
- Ultimate Team
- Career Mode
- Pro Clubs
- Seasons
In terms of new modes, fans of the series have been clamouring for an online Career Mode for a while now. And it looks like we may see that introduced with EA FC 24. Now that FIFA's out of the picture, EA is free to get more creative with the series. The publisher has doubled down on that intention by calling EA Sports "a symbol of change." And it's aware of what fans want.
At a closed-door press event held in August, Dexerto asked FIFA's lead gameplay producer, Sam Rivera, if an online Career Mode was on the cards for FIFA 23.
"All of those ideas are definitely being considered," he responded, adding "We’re definitely considering it, it just becomes a matter of prioritizing every year what the community wants and what our technology allows us to deliver. We definitely know [about] those requests but at this point, there’s nothing specific we can tell you."
While Rivera hasn't confirmed anything here, we can speculate that this is a feature EA is rolling out with its own title next year. With FIFA launching its own series, it makes sense to give the fans what they want to keep them invested in the new franchise.
And after the introduction of women's club teams in FIFA 23, a dedicated women's Career Mode would also be a welcome addition to the game. Currently, women's teams are limited to Kick-Off mode so it would be great to see this restriction lifted.
EA FC 24: licenses
In its blog post announcing the new title, EA touched on the EA Sports FC licenses, confirming that its licensing portfolio of "more than 19,000+ players, 700+ teams, 100+ stadiums and 30 leagues....will still be there." Phew!
That goes for the publisher's exclusive partnerships including England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Germany's Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, UEFA, South America's CONMEBOL and the United States' MLS – with more to be announced at a future date.
EA Sports is also reportedly close to agreeing to a £488m deal with the Premier League that would see EA Sports FC granted an exclusive licence, which would give EA a huge jump on any future competitors including any future games from FIFA, UFL and Goals. The reported six-year deal between EA and the Premier League is worth over double the current deal, showing how much EA values having the licencing of the most lucrative league in world football.
Not to forget that EA is also the new title sponsor for La Liga, with the first division now named La Liga EA Sports and the second division La Liga HyperMotion.
EA FC 24: trailers
We're yet to receive any trailers regarding gameplay or new features in EA FC 24, but if EA releases the game in a similar way to FIFA 23, we can expect to see something released this month. We do have a teaser tweet that's more of a slideshow really, but should get you hyped nonetheless.
EA FC 24: Ultimate Team
EA FC 24 will launch with Ultimate Team, given this isn't anything to do with FIFA. Ultimate Team is solely EA's baby and crops up in its other sports titles, so there's no reason it'll do away with it for the new franchise. It's also an incredibly lucrative revenue stream for the company, so it's going nowhere.
Now that EA has cut its ties with FIFA, it makes sense to give Ultimate Team a bit of an overhaul. With the introduction of female players and the hopes of a women's Career Mode, it's not too much to ask to have FUT cards for women.
FUT mode has also taken flack for its monetisation aspects, with the mode coming under scrutiny as part of various countries' loot box bans – including in the UK. While it was ultimately decided that FUT packs aren't a form of gambling, in order to get ahead of any future furore, EA could take the opportunity to provide more transparency around the packs and ensure that appropriate age restrictions are in place.
EA FC 24: new features and gameplay
In terms of new features, EA FC 24 will have something up its sleeve to stave off competition from FIFA 24 (or FIFA 25, with FIFA 24 looking unlikely) and keep hold of its fanbase. The publisher has alluded to the restrictions its licensing agreement with FIFA placed on the series in terms of gameplay, and there have been some interesting comments that could tease what's in store.
Ahead of any official EA FC 24 unveiling, David Jackson, VP of brand at EA Sports, confirmed that EA FC 24 will be powered by HyperMotion V, the latest and best technology any EA football game has seen to date. HyperMotion V will consist of 80x the number of animations as FIFA 23 while also including 590 million frames of advanced 11 vs 11 game capture.
"We are going to blur the lines between virtual and real football", said Jackson. We'll be integrating Hawkeye tracking with player position engagement for La Liga matches to fuel HyperMotion V. Our volumetric animation technology. The tech uses 590 million frames of advanced 11v11 capture, 80x more than FIFA 23's HyperMotion 2.0 technology.
"HyperMotion V teaches EA Sports FC's proprietary machine learning algorithm how to recreate true-to-football motion in real-time, meaning the more matches played in FC, the more real the experience becomes."
For those of you who are old and decrepit enough, you may remember the introduction of the dive button and deliberate fouls in FIFA 99. The controversial feature didn't last long, with its last outing being in FIFA 2001. But with the football governing body out of the picture, it would be great for EA to bring something like this back.
Whether or not FIFA was behind the removal of these various gameplay elements, who can say? But now EA's hands are no longer tied, we could see these – or even more radical features – included in EA FC 24.
