The transition from FIFA 23 to EA Sports FC 24 promises to be the biggest in the history of EA’s football simulation series, despite confirmation that every fan favorite mode will make a return.
Though the ongoing success of the FIFA franchise is undeniable, there are definite areas in which it can improve — and there seems little better opportunity than when it makes the switch to EA Sports FC. Here are 10 things EA Sports need to do in EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Team to ensure it builds on FIFA 23 and gets the new series off to the right start.
1. Objectives For Objectives
Right now in Ultimate Team, Objectives are important to completing huge swathes of challenges and earning rewards. However, despite their importance and the sheer volume, players still have to claim each completed Objective one by one. There’s also no way to know you’ve completed a specific gameplay-related Objective in-game.
A ‘Claim All’ needs to happen to save time and improve the UX, especially when the objectives in question are arbitrary TIFOs, small amounts of XP or even more inconsequential rewards. So too, does an in-game pinging system to let you know when you’ve met the relevant criteria.
2. ‘Tis The Season For Better Season Rewards
Balancing Season rewards in FUT is a tricky line to toe, with players demanding bang for their buck but needing to earn it at the same time.
Regardless, it’s pretty safe to say that grinding for hours to earn a TIFO or stadium feature that you’ll probably never use is unrewarding and can even be frustrating. Coin boosts and solid packs are welcome, but they come too infrequently across the thirty tiers to feel like the grind is worth it.
3. Changes To Position Changes
FIFA 23’s changes to position were largely welcomed. The realism brought by position changes specific to players seemed, on paper, a great step forward.
However, it’s become a bit of a headache. EA’s regular addition of the Position Modifier SBC has been a solution of sorts, but it does appear an admission that it wasn’t integrated flawlessly: having to give a player a modifier every time you want to use one of their potential positions seems a bizarre choice. That can change in EA Sports FC.
4. Make Chemistry Great Again
Like the position change system, chemistry changes in FIFA 23 were welcomed, with the idea that players no longer had to be next to each other a sensible one. However, it’s become incredibly difficult to get players on full chemistry.
Pair this with the complete absence of chemistry if a player’s not in their correct position and SBCs, squad-building for matches and hybrid squads are more difficult to pull off as a result.
5. Duplicate Duplicates
There’s a lot of sense in not letting players accumulate duplicates. But, when so many cards in FUT right now are untradeable and so many can be good for SBCs, it’s a pain to have to discard players (especially high OVR ones) because there’s already one in your club. A duplicate pile, even with a strict hard limit, would go a long way to alleviating this.
6. Shorter Squad Batt-
Again, Squad Battles have been made integral to a lot of challenges in FUT, especially swaps-based ones. The problem is that they’re monotonous and repetitive, with AI competition just not comparable to online matches against a real player.
A simple reduction in time, to three or four minute halves, would be a long overdue to the much-maligned mode.
7. Goalkeepers AgAIn
It seems like most years in FIFA that goalkeepers and their AI are a major point of discussion. FIFA 23 is no different, with shot-stoppers still inconsistent to a frustrating extent. One game they’re unbeatable, the next they’re incapable of catching a cold. Balance is the answer here, and hopefully EA Sports FC can find it.
8. Freelance Players
What we mean by this is the removal of contracts. In the same way player fitness was taken to the abattoir, it feels like the same needs to happen with contracts.
They’re restrictive and unnecessary, especially in light of how fast players accumulate them and the spaces they take up in packs. Giving us a player for good seems the easy answer.
9. Finesse Shots (But No Finesse Shots)
Like GK AI, this is more of a gameplay one than specific to FUT, but it still needs addressing. Every year it seems that one type of shot — be it power, finesse or a trivela — is incredibly OP and can be exploited by even the most average of players. EA Sports’ quest to make FIFA as realistic and grounded as possible will only be successful if all shot types are usable and perform comparably.
10. Incentive To Draft
Back when it was added, Draft Mode was a welcome chance to use the best players and build fun and dynamic squads. It’s become less and less necessary as cards and teams have improved, to the point where there’s very little reason to do a Draft.
The rewards just don’t justify the time spent and, paired with the choice to omit position modifier cards from the mode, it feels very unrewarding and awkward. The mode, put simply, needs a revamp in EA Sports FC.
That rounds off our list of 10 things we want to see changed from FIFA 23 to EA Sports FC 24. As we approach the release — expected around fall as normal — we’ll get answers to some of these conundrums.
