My relationship with EA Sports FC ("FIFA") as a player... It works as a sort of meditation or break from work or anything else going on in my life. It even serves as a palette cleanser for other video games (particularly bad ones). It has been this way for much of my adult life.
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Issues
Summer 2025
1. User Interface & Immersion
Pre-Game Kit Selection: Simplify the kit selection process to a single button press to access kit options, reducing unnecessary menu navigation.
Main Menu/Home Screen: De-clutter the home screen, creating a more streamlined and intuitive user interface.
In-Game News Feed (Instagram):
Content: Replace the generic, repetitive Instagram feed with a more focused news feed.
Relevance: The feed should primarily feature news, highlights, and updates specific to the league the user is managing.
Functionality: Fix issues with broken or low-quality images and ensure the content is updated at a realistic pace.
2. Gameplay & Progression
Player & Youth Academy Growth:
Pace: Accelerate the player growth system, rewarding time spent developing youth players with more noticeable improvements.
Youth Talent: Increase the frequency of "gem" players emerging from the youth academy (e.g., a player with 70-80+ potential appearing every 1 in 5 intakes), making the youth development system more rewarding and exciting.
Post-Game Interviews: Implement a more dynamic post-game interview system. Utilize AI to generate questions that are relevant to specific in-game events, providing a more engaging and less repetitive experience.
Career Mode Philosophy: Re-orient the career mode design to function more like a traditional RPG (Role-Playing Game) with clear progression, storylines, and long-term consequences, moving away from a purely simulation-focused "playable Football Manager" model.
Kit Design:
Retro Kits: Reintroduce a selection of classic or "retro" kits for clubs.
Customization: Refresh the custom kit designs. Partner with major sportswear brands like Nike and Adidas or crowdsource popular community-created templates to provide more modern and varied options.
Character Models: Improve the detail and realism of player character models, specifically addressing issues with:
Unrealistic lower leg shapes (cylindrical appearance).
Low-quality eyebrows.
Inconsistent or overly feminine facial features in male academy players. And... you forgot to add facial hair.
4. Commentary & Presentation
Commentary Team: While a welcome addition, reduce the frequency of Sue Smith's commentary in the men's game. It's not about quality, but the game has a women's side. It also breaks the fantasy (/immersion).
Referee Gender: While gender-diverse refereeing is a positive step, reduce the frequency of women referees in men's matches to better reflect the current real-world rarity, improving game immersion.
5. General Issues
Game Name: Clarify and simplify the game's official name. The consistent use of "EA Sports FC" or "EA FC" is needed to prevent brand confusion and maintain the recognizability that "FIFA" once provided.
Unrelated Game Modes: Consider the impact of unrelated game modes on the core experience. Specifically, the "card game" (referring to Ultimate Team) is seen as a source of clutter that detracts from the Career Mode focus.