Copyright escapistmagazine
We're now into EA FC 26's second season of content, but EA could be gearing up for much bigger things beyond the current annual release. After talking about the ludicrous number of "data points" gathered from "community discussions", EA's new blog post says it's using EA FC 26 to "influence future FC innovations". "As part of this continued commitment, invited players from the UK, USA, and Canada will take part in a technical playtest for a future, world-based football experience, starting today, November 3," the blog post explains. Here's why that's particularly important. EA FC 26's Technical Playtest could be huge for the franchise's future EA says, "This is a technical playtest with pre-release software," with the goal being to "test a range of innovations, technical performance, and stability by giving invited players a hands-on experience of several early, limited, in-development features in an all-new mode in FC." "The results will contribute to our ongoing development of the experience which we plan to release in a future EA SPORTS FC title." That's interesting because, well, modes haven't really changed all that months in years for EA FC, or FIFA before it. There's been the publisher's cash-sapping Ultimate Team mode, as well as online modes like Rivals and Clubs. Rush was much-publicized in last year's game but has taken a backseat in this year's outing, and Career Mode remains split down the middle between Player and Manager options. And, in all honesty, that's been enough for the most part, but it does show its age when compared to other sports franchises like NBA 2K26. NBA 2K has offered pretty much everything EA FC offers, as well as a more cinematic single-player storyline, the option to wander a virtual area for pickup games and spend your monthly wages on digital shoes, and even multiple eras of the NBA to play in. WWE 2K25, on the other hand, lets you play its MyGM mode with buddies online. Sure, it's not the best implementation of the mode, but it's a start that can be built on. Could this be the long-rumored EA FC online career mode coming to fruition? Admittedly, it sounds like a huge challenge to coordinate, but given that Football Manager has offered something similar for years, there's at least a precedent. Imagine slipping into a downward spiral and having to play against a rival (or friend) to stay in your current league, or watching matches while chewing your fingernails wondering if you'll be finishing the weekend's action top of the league or not. Add in financial incentives like improved transfer budgets for clubs getting into Europe or competition prize money, and the possibilities are endless. Conversely, EA could take a cue from the MyNBA Eras of 2K's series, especially since it's been steadily adding Heroes and Icons to the game for the last decade or so. Why not work on a way to play with classic squads, like the Arsenal Invincibles, or Manchester United's Treble-Winning squad? Here's hoping it's something more exciting than a microtransaction-filled hellscape, for the love of football. For more on EA FC 26, be sure to check out the full Ultimate Scream squad, as well as the latest Team of the Week.
