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Something to look forward to: EA is gearing up to release its second association football simulator since parting ways with FIFA and relinquishing the World Cup license in 2022. The new EA Sports FC franchise doesn't seem to be hindered by the loss, and market conditions will likely prevent any serious competitors from emerging in the near future.
EA Sports FC 25 is now available for customers who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition for $100, while the standard edition will launch on September 27 for $70.
The sequel to EA's first post-FIFA football game introduces several gameplay enhancements and new modes. A revamped AI system aims to deliver more realistic matches, and a new rush mode enables co-op play in 5v5 games.
Moreover, EA Sports FC 25 introduces the first fully-featured career modes for female players, allowing users to manage a player or team in one of five top-ranked women's leagues. This addition builds on EA's continued effort to integrate female players, which began with last year's title.
Later this year, Live Strat Points will enable players to link their careers with real-world matches during the 2024/2025 season.
The system requirements remain modest, unchanged from the last two entries. EA recommends 12 GB of RAM and either an AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. The game requires 100 GB of storage space.
Strangely, enough early-access players on Steam have reported issues with controller support to drag the game's Steam review rating down to "Mixed." This prompted EA to release a workaround guide while the company investigates the issue.
Although EA's notice suggests the problem primarily affects PlayStation 5 DualSense controllers, many players report being unable to use any controller. After all, the game is still in early access (though it's a $100 early access game).
Despite EA's split from FIFA two years ago and the latter's pledge to create a better football game, no such competitor seems to be on the horizon.
Earlier this year, rumors circulated that 2K Games had secured a deal to develop FIFA 2K25. However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick denied these reports, explaining that licensing for association football is more complex than for American football, basketball, or baseball.
Zelnick pointed out that, while games like Madden, NBA 2K, and MLB: The Show only need agreements with one league, international football consists of many regional leagues. Moreover, the FIFA license alone doesn't grant access to those leagues, many of which have already signed deals with EA for their FC series.