What’s New in the Upcoming EA FC 26?

The highly-anticipated sequel to the world’s most popular football game is just around the corner! EA FC 26 is reportedly complete and packed with features designed to deliver a more authentic, responsive experience, especially for online competition – its key selling point in recent years.

This season, EA seems to have listened closely to the global community by revamping gameplay mechanics, adding new modes, and offering deeper team and player customization.

So, what are the shiny new updates for the 2025/2026 competitive season?

New gameplay

The signature Frostbite engine is still here, but the developer team have promised major fixes to issues that plagued competitive play. And this year they bring significant changes, rewarding high-skill players more effectively.

Two major revamps:

1. On-Ball Physicality: Dribbling and player movement are completely overhauled. Expect sharper, more explosive, and responsive controls, powered by smarter AI positioning, making player agility and acceleration feel more realistic.
2. Off-Ball Shielding: The often-criticized defending mechanics, which didn’t always reflect player stats, get serious attention. A new, optimized system promises better defense for current-gen consoles.

But hey, it’s always that new year, new ‘tweak’, right? Guess there is only one way to find out.

Deeper Customization

Inspired by real-life football legends, EA have introduced the brand new ‘Archetypes‘ to EA FC 26: aiming to develop talents in Clubs and Player Career modes properly until they mastered unique playstyles based on real football icons.

Each Archetype has its own progression path using Archetype XP. You will have plenty of attribute boosts and special perks to unlock, and tailor them to your chosen style.

Revamped FUT

The EA FC’s flagship mode is here with major updates to address common feedback from the community, believe it or not. Key new features include:

• Live Events: More themed competitions and knockout tournaments will be introduced with exclusive prizes.
• Improved Rivals & Champs: Better matchmaking for online mode and a new weekend tier called “Challengers” for lower-division players to compete.
• Flexible Evo cards: Evolution cards can now be repeated and stacked, offering more ways to build your squad.
• Enhanced Cross-play: Easier squad building and matchmaking across platforms, especially for the current gen.

Career Mode upgrades

In addition to FUT, many have been waiting for major improvement to Career mode. Enter ‘Deeper Simulation‘: a new addition to Career Manager that will present diverse challenges and objectives across up to five different leagues.

Player development will also get a boost with new youth tournaments in the Career mode, adding strategic depth to squad building.

Club mode improvements

The ‘Be-A-Goalkeeper’ mode, popular in competitive play, now features more dynamic goalkeeper controls and assistance settings. Additionally, a new Affiliation System lets players join multiple clubs to boost AI teammates’ attributes. Players may utilize this new addition to enhance squad synergy and build stronger team chemistry.

Nintendo Switch 2 gets the real deal

It’s no secret that past Nintendo Switch versions used to draw heavy criticism for using outdated engine aka ‘legacy version’. This year, EA promised that the Switch 2 version will have all the features of the big boys version.

Given the Switch 2’s capabilities and rising popularity, it seems we are finally getting the true EA FC portable experience. FUT on the go, anyone?

Other Features

• Save and transfer Tactics between offline and online modes.
• More player card customization options.
• Over 20,000 licensed players, 750+ clubs, and wide league coverage – including exclusive UEFA competitions. One of the highlights here is the return of Bayern Munich as EA FC official partner, featuring young star Jamal Musiala on the global cover.

Ready to take on the new season? EA FC 26 is slated for global release on September 26, 2025, coming to PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, and Nintendo Switch/Switch 2.