All You Need to Know About EA Sports FC 25: FC IQ Tactics, Career Mode Enhancements, and More

In anticipation of today’s reveal of EA Sports FC 25, we had the opportunity to review an extensive showcase of all the new features and improvements in the game. I’ve covered the 5v5 Rush experience in a separate article, so let’s dive into everything else here.

Everything begins with FC IQ, a comprehensive overhaul of the game’s tactical implementation. The developers aim to help players channel their inner club manager, meticulously guiding how their team performs. FC IQ is designed to leverage and enhance previously introduced technologies like HyperMotion V and Play Styles.

FC IQ and Player Roles

FC IQ consists of three core components: Player Roles, which dictate how players behave off the ball with over 50 new roles; Team Tactics, which closely mimic a team’s real-world playstyle, providing more variety from match to match; and Smart Tactics, which offer real-time suggestions based on the current match and even provide commentary on your tactical adjustments.

EA Sports utilized real-world data from Opta and a proprietary AI model to power Player Roles. This model analyzed Opta data from the past two seasons for each player, covering all games, stats, and plays. For instance, Jude Bellingham’s dominant style emerged as Half-Winger (75%), with 14% as Shadow Striker and 11% as Playmaker. On the other hand, Kai Havertz displayed a more balanced style with 40% as Playmaker, 39% as Shadow Striker, and 21% as Half-Winger.

The developers claim this results in more authentic and intelligent team movements. At launch, expect three to five Player Roles per position (except goalkeepers). For example, a Wide Midfielder (RM/LM) could be a Winger, a Wide Playmaker, or an Inside Forward. A Full Back (RB/LB) might play as a Falseback, Wingback, or Attacking Wingback. A Centre-Back (CB) could be a Stopper, Defender, or Ball-Playing Defender. Defensive Midfielder (CDM) roles might include Holding Midfielder, Centre-Half, or Deep-Lying Playmaker. Striker roles include Advanced Forward, Poacher, Target Forward, and False 9. Finally, the Centre Midfielder (CM) has the most options: Box-to-Box, Holding, Deep-Lying Playmaker, Playmaker, or Half-Winger.

Team Tactics and Smart Tactics

In addition to Roles, players can select one to three Focuses per Role. For instance, a Roaming Playmaker will move freely to find spaces. This significantly expands the tactical combinations available in EA Sports FC 25. Each Player Role and Focus combination offers specific advantages and disadvantages. EA Sports also added Familiarity, indicating how well-suited a player is for a particular role.

Every player has a base role and a Role+, signifying their expertise in specific tasks. World-class players feature Role++, a rare attribute at launch. Players can also be placed out of position, resulting in a simplified version of their Role. For example, placing Vinicius Jr. as a Defensive Midfielder. Familiarity replaces the old work rates, providing a refined system in EA Sports FC 25.

Recognizing the community’s fondness for sharing tactics, the developers introduced a new code-based system. This system generates a code when you save your tactics, allowing them to be shared across any mode and platform. Additionally, the bench size has been increased to nine players on Gen 9 platforms (PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X) in Kick Off, Career, Seasons, and Tournaments modes. New corner kick assignments include target player (when attacking) and near post/back post players (when defending).

HyperMotion V and Gameplay Mechanics

Improvements to HyperMotion V in EA Sports FC 25 include full-body mapping for around 1800 players, including 200 women. Goalkeeper playstyles have been expanded significantly, encompassing roles like Deflector, Cross Claimer, Rush Out, Footwork, Far Throw, and Far Reach.

This year introduces a new core gameplay mechanic: Positional Foul. Common in real football, it occurs when a player grabs another rugby-style without any intention of playing the ball, aiming to stop a dangerous counter-attack. Triggered with the right bumper and A or X (depending on your controller), it results in an automatic yellow card, and repeated use can lead to a red card.

Dribbling has been refined for better responsiveness, with the animation database cleaned up to enhance the dribbling experience. Passing accuracy has been slightly reduced for blind passes to improve realism. Players can also explore five new skill moves: toe drag stepover, big feints, stepover ball, heel nutmeg, and drag turn.

Simulation Mode and Single Player Experience

Single-player offline mode enthusiasts will appreciate the new Simulation mode, offering a slower, more authentic gameplay experience. Weather impacts the pitch, causing players to slip in heavy rain, and AI opponents feel more dynamic.

Efforts to make stadiums more lively include authentic mascots, active sideline moments featuring managers, officials, and substitutes, real crowd reactions, and dynamic elements like photographers and cameras tracking the action.

Console players can choose between two graphics modes: Enhanced Visuals or Favor Resolution. Enhanced Visuals upscale to 4K resolution with ray-traced ambient occlusion, cloth simulation, self-shadowing, rim lighting, 3D pitch divots, and local exposure. Favor Resolution delivers native 4K display with cloth simulation on shorts and default exposure. Both modes target 60 frames per second for optimal responsiveness. Additionally, dynamic time-of-day progression lets matches start before sunset and continue into nighttime.

Player likeness accuracy has been improved with EA Sports Cranium, a new machine learning-based system. This system enhances the resemblance of thousands of less famous players by analyzing a vast number of photos.

Career Mode Enhancements

Career mode has been significantly revamped. Key features include Live Start Points, which allow players to continue from real-life seasonal stories from leagues like the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and Champions League. For example, starting from a Snapshot, a specific moment in the real season, and continuing the game. Live Start Points will be added post-launch.

Career mode now fully integrates FC IQ. Players can, for instance, hire a coach to help Haaland learn the False 9 Player Role or recruit a new player familiar with that playstyle from the Youth Academy, expanded to over 90 new countries. Youth players can compete in 5v5 Rush tournaments, with managers having the option to play with current or potential stats. Winning these Youth tournaments, held every two months in Career mode, boosts player stats significantly.

Women’s Football and Transfer Market

Women’s football is now fully implemented in Career mode, reflecting EA Sports’ commitment to parity with men’s football. This includes adapting to different financial models with tighter budgets, shorter contracts, and varying salary structures. Career mode also offers a casual experience option, free from transfers and scouting.

For transfer market enthusiasts, Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano joins EA Sports FC 25’s in-game social media system, delivering his classic ‘Here we go, confirmed’ messages when major player transfers occur.

EA Sports FC 25 also allows players to experience a Player Career with icons like Pirlo, Van Nistelrooy, Henry, and Kelly Smith. Pre-order icons include Ronaldo, Zidane, and Beckham, with these legends’ careers unfolding against and with current players.

Ultimate Team Mode and Rush

Ultimate Team mode supports Rush, letting users bring their players and enter matchmaking if needed. Ultimate Team’s Rush features Events, introducing club requirements and other limitations.

EA Sports FC 25 promises to be an exciting installment in the franchise, packed with new features and improvements that enhance the gaming experience for both casual players and dedicated fans. Whether you’re managing your team with advanced tactics, enjoying the dynamic career mode, or competing in Ultimate Team, there’s something for everyone in this year’s release.

Enhancements in Ultimate Team and Clubhouse Features

Beyond Rush, Ultimate Team in EA Sports FC 25 will benefit from live updates that are intricately connected to FC IQ. For example, if a player excels in a slightly different role than usual, their Player Role in Ultimate Team will be updated accordingly. If delving into tactics isn’t your preference, you can now hire real-world managers who will implement their favorite styles into your squad.

Everything can be managed through the Web and the companion app, allowing players to continue strategizing outside the game. Additionally, EA has addressed three primary community requests for Ultimate Team: players can now send up to 100 items to a squad building challenge storage, which is particularly useful for duplicates; Evolutions have been expanded to significantly increase (by about seven times) the number of eligible players; the competitive environment will see friendlies and rivals matchmaking decoupled, draws awarding one point for rivals, and relegations introduced to the top tier.

For Clubs, the developers have created a personalized social space called Clubhouse that connects all players. This dynamic, customizable locker room can accommodate up to 11 players simultaneously. The Club manager can also allocate part of the budget towards Facilities cards, which provide unique attribute boosts that help define your Club’s playstyle. There will be 20 to 30 Facilities cards at launch, each available in one, two, or three-star variants. Additionally, league relegation returns, adding higher stakes to the game. Losing enough matches triggers a one-off relegation match where players must avoid defeat to stay in their current league.

Unified Season Pass and Enhanced Player Customization

Crucially, the season pass in EA Sports FC 25 has been unified, meaning that completing matches across all modes will contribute towards the same goals. This makes progression more streamlined and rewarding. Additionally, the player customization tool is more comprehensive than ever, allowing for deeper personalization of your in-game avatars.

We’ll need to wait until we have more hands-on time with the game, but on paper, EA Sports FC 25 appears to be a significant evolution over last year’s installment. EA Sports FC 25 is set to release on September 27, with early access available through the Ultimate Edition starting a week earlier. It will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and Nintendo Switch.