December is here, which means 2027 is just around the corner, and with it, the next edition of annual sports franchises. Every year comes with new hopes for players; some met others not, and some of the biggest wishes have endured for years. We’ve decided to look at the top thing we want to see fixed when each series drops in 2027.
EA FC 27 – Fix The Feeling
There’s nothing more important to a sports game than the actual enjoyment you get when playing your virtual sport, so realistic handling and controls are essential for any sports game. Sadly for fans of EA FC 25, this is an area where the sport’s biggest franchise got things extremely wrong.
There are several notable complaints about the way that EA FC 26 handles and what it feels like to play as some of the best footballers in the world. Simply put, players do not feel that the current game is responsive as required for a sport that relies so much on timing and careful maneuvering in tight spaces. Working on the underlying code to minimize negative occurrences like input delay will create a smoother playing experience and raise player enjoyment significantly.
Football Manager 27 – Make It Reliable
No game had more pressure in this past year’s release cycle than Football Manager 26, which followed on the cancellation of Football Manager 25 and carried the expectations of a two-year development cycle and two-year wait (Codemasters would do well to pay attention to how it all went as they take 2026 with their F1 series.) Unfortunately, more time to wait and prepare has not resulted in the best game in series history as some may have hoped.
The delay itself was brought about by the switch to the Unity engine from its old proprietary in-house build, and it’s been a rocky start on the new setup. While enthusiasts have noted the bones of a great game are in there if the developers can grow into the engine, right now the game is loaded with an abnormal number of bugs and user interface issues that Sports Interactive simply must improve upon next time out.
Madden 27 – Rebuild Career Modes
It’s not breaking any new ground to note that modern sports games have changed their prioritization away from single-player, offline modes and into online live-service play. From a business perspective, this makes sense as a way of keeping income up throughout the game’s yearlong cycle, and for players who prefer the online mode, this is great news. It means lots of resources are devoted to the multiplayer online options.
Unfortunately, the tradeoff has been stagnation and even deterioration of the long-term career modes that more closely represent the real-world sports. For Madden, it would be a great time to have refreshed attempts at the superstar and team management approaches to franchise play, creating options that remain engrossing for season after season as you build your own dynasty with its own stories to tell.
College Football 27 – Exit The Honeymoon
The return of College Football 25 came with a lot of goodwill brought about by the return of a franchise that had been gone for so long. The first release was broadly met with acclaim by fans, but as the annual release becomes a more normal thing, fans’ standards for quality are going to keep going up.
This puts the onus on the team at EA to refine the game and fix those little things that get irritating for players. Because the team is no longer having to build out a new infrastructure, the expectation to be able to find and fix problems from year to year goes up, and fans judging the results with kid gloves is no longer there to fall back on.
NBA 2K27 – Lay Off Players’ Pockets
In the world of sports games, some problems tend to be pretty strong across many different franchises, but sometimes one can stand out as the avatar of an issue. When it comes to the world of microtransactions and virtual currencies, then NBA 2K is the undisputed face of the fanbase fury.
Microtransactions aren’t going anywhere, and gamers know and begrudgingly accept this, but the extent of their implementation in the 2K series borders on parody. Players know that any attempts to meaningfully build out their MyPlayer will require the investment of real-world money, to say nothing of the online modes. The former is the easiest way to lower the burden, but we aren’t holding our breaths expecting to see them turn off the money fountain.
WWE 2K26 – Round Out The Match Options
The match options in the WWE 2K series are a mixed bag. The game undeniably comes with many options you can use to customize the way your game plays or the type of matches you are having. This can be a great way to keep your time with the game feeling fresh and adds a lot of longevity to the game.
Wrestling is an industry where you never know when you’re going to come across an innovative new match, and there are still some beloved match types that have yet to be added to the game. While it’s not reasonable to expect every match you see to be in later games, continuing to build out the match options with some new options like an “I Quit” would be well-received.
MLB The Show 26 – Offer Online Franchises
Sports video games can be among the most fun ones to play with your friends socially, and for gamers who really love a game and are looking for a unique experience, an online franchise mode is an outstanding option. Online franchise play lets you and your friends compete over a timeline longer than just a game or two in an afternoon.
Adding online franchise play back into MLB The Show is often on the list of players’ wants and there’s no time like today. An online mode that allows you to compete in all the elements of running a successful baseball franchise, including off the diamond, would be a huge add.
UFC 6 – Make The Dirty Work Cleaner
Mixed Martial Arts is a sport that was never going to be easy to transition into a video game, with any of the sports’ phases presenting a challenge all on its own. It’s understandable why a game may release where not every phase is as perfectly carried out, but fixing what’s broken should always be a high priority.
The clinch game is an integral part of MMA, with some fighters doing their best work in close. Reworking the system to implement the better elements of grappling, with some striking that is not available on the ground, could be a big step forward.
These are our targets, but fans’ wish lists are long. So what do you want for your favorite franchise’s next edition?
