EA SPORTS FC 25 - Football Ultimate Team Deep Dive

Welcome to the EA SPORTS FC™ 25 Football Ultimate Team™ Pitch Notes, I’m Azlan Mustapha, Lead Producer, joined by Celina Chang, Producer on Football Ultimate Team™ Rush. We're excited to share details on the new features coming to EA SPORTS FC 25 Football Ultimate Team™.

Football Ultimate Team™ in EA SPORTS FC 25 will let you team up with friends in 5v5 Rush, unlock new levels of strategy in 11v11 with Player Roles and FC IQ, and introduces some long awaited community requested features.

We’ll see you on the pitch on September 27th for Worldwide Launch, but until then, let’s dive deep into what Football Ultimate Team is all about in EA SPORTS FC 25.

ULTIMATE TEAM RUSH

Bring your favourite player item from your Ultimate Team club, team up with friends, and hit the pitch in intense, locked-to-player 5v5 matches. Rewards earned in Ultimate Team Rush can be used to improve your own Ultimate Team roster in the 11v11 experience.

FC IQ IN ULTIMATE TEAM

FC IQ informs the Ultimate Team experience in a variety of key ways. Manager Items will feature the manager’s real-world tactical preferences, authentically influencing how your team plays on the pitch. Player Roles are also part of each player item and available from the very beginning of the Ultimate Team season.

NEW STADIUM & MATCH EXPERIENCE

The Ultimate Team match experience is fully refreshed thanks to newly designed stadiums and more engaging live broadcasting sequences. New presentation elements highlight lineup decisions and both teams’ unique players. Larger away sections allow you to bring more of the home stadium experience on the road.

COSMETIC EVOLUTIONS

The Player Item shell has always held the spotlight in Football Ultimate Team™, but now you can make it your own in unique ways. Upgrade Player Item shells with all-new cosmetic Evolutions: add more breakouts and modify embellishment components such as backgrounds, borders and SFX.

RUSH

We're excited to introduce Rush to Football Ultimate Team™, a new way to play and win with friends. Select your favourite player to control and build your dream 5-a-side squad with up to three friends, then compete for rewards in 5v5 matches.

A New 5v5 Experience

Rush is a 5v5 experience, including AI-controlled goalkeepers, allowing you to either team up with up to three other friends or drop in as a solo player and get matched up with other players. Bring your favourite player to control and your teams’ choices will contribute towards earning Rush Points.

Events

When playing Rush, you’ll need to first select an event. Rush events in Football Ultimate Team™ are designed to offer players another layer of challenge in squad building by limiting the Player Items you can bring into the event. Each event can come with specific entry requirements and these requirements may restrict the eligible pool of players based on Rarity, Attributes, or countries/regions, leagues, and clubs. Different Rush events may provide faster progression towards completing your weekly Rush Objectives, but all events will contribute to the same set of weekly Rush Objectives.

Squad Building

Rush introduces a collaborative squad building experience in Football Ultimate Team™. You will need to work together with your team to pick players that perform on the pitch, and also complete block requirements to maximise Rush Points earned. 

After finding teammates, you will enter the squad building phase. Players from your Club will be pre-filtered based on the event entry requirements for you to quickly choose from. If you’re not satisfied with the recommendations, you can still search for specific players from your Club during this phase.

You and your teammates will have 90 seconds to select the players you want to use in the match - remember, each of you will only be able to control the player you select. Duplicate players are not allowed on the same team, including other versions of players as well. Once each player has locked in their selection, or the timer expires, your team will begin matchmaking with opponents.

Earning Rush Points

Rush Points are the primary way you will complete Weekly Objectives and earn rewards in Rush. They can be earned both on the pitch, and in squad building by completing block requirements with your team.

The fastest way to earn Rush Points is to win matches with friends in your group - but there are many ways to earn Rush Points:

• Winning a match
• Playing a match
• Playing with friends
• Completing blocks
• Winning multiple Rush matches in a row

Blocks are optional challenges that your team can solve collectively, and within each Rush squad building phase your team can have up to 5 blocks to complete. Blocks offer ways to earn more Rush Points, and they may change from event to event.

Block requirements can target player Attributes, team composition, and more.

By successfully completing these blocks, your entire team will be rewarded with bonus Rush Points. Some blocks will provide flat points, multipliers, or conditional bonuses. As mentioned before, our goal here is for players to collaborate closely with their team, strategizing on team composition to meet these requirements.

Blocks can award your team with:

• Rush Points
• Rush Point Multipliers
• Bonus Rush Points on win
• Bonus Rush Points per goal

Rush Objectives

A Rush Objective Group will be available each week, allowing you to earn rewards based on Rush Points earned that week. By participating in Rush events and completing block requirements, you can increase the amount of Rush Points earned from that match for you and your team. While these Rush Objectives will be available each week, there may also be additional Objectives related to Rush allowing you to earn more rewards.

Matchmaking

In Rush, you can play with any group size up to 4 players, and whether you’re playing as a solo, duo or trio, players will be found to fill the remainder of your team. Matchmaking will take into account your skill level within Rush specifically and use this to match you with teammates, and your overall team skill when finding opponents. Matchmaking pools will be separated based on events to ensure that players will be playing with the same event entry requirements and eligible pool of Player Items.

If a player leaves a match in-progress, their chosen player will be controlled by the AI. The match will end if all players on a team are not present.

In summary, build your dream 5v5 squad with up to 3 other friends while maximising your Rush Points. Then, compete to win and complete Objectives for exciting rewards.

FC IQ

FC IQ overhauls tactics to deliver greater control over your team's strategy, both on and off the ball in 11v11 Football Ultimate Team matches. A new AI model, powered by real-world data, influences player tactics through all-new Player Roles

Manager Items also now come with Tactical Presets, which you can use to emulate some of your favourite real-world tactical setups.

Manager Presets

Manager Items will feature their real-world tactical preferences and allow you to influence how your team plays. They also have Tactical Presets which are a great way to try out new and different team setups for those who want to experience new tactical approaches without customising from scratch.

You will be able to use the Tactical Preset of your currently active Manager and save it to a Tactics slot, enabling you to assign it as your starting Tactic or one that you reactively switch to during a match.

Player Roles

Player Roles are a new part of each Player Item and are replacing Work Rates. Player Roles will guide the way players think and behave on the pitch, resulting in more authentic tactical intelligence and movement off the ball.

At launch; the following player roles will be available:

Position | Role - Focus

• GK
  • Goalkeeper - Defend | Balanced
  • Sweeper Keeper - Balanced
• RB | LB
  • Fullback - Defend | Balanced
  • Wingback - Balanced
  • Falseback - Defend | Balanced
  • Attacking Winback - Balanced | Attack
• CB
  • Defender - Defend | Balanced
  • Stopper - Balanced
  • Ball-Playing Defender - Defend | Build-Up
• CDM
  • Holding - Defend | Roaming
  • Centre-Half - Defend
  • Deep-Lying Playmaker - Defend | Roaming
• CM
  • Box-to-Box - Balanced
  • Holding - Defend
  • Deep-Lying Playmaker - Defend
  • Playmaker - Attack | Roaming
  • Half-Winger - Balanced | Attack
• RM | LM
  • Winger - Balanced | Attack
  • Wide Midfielder - Defend | Balanced
  • Wide Playmaker - Attack
  • Inside Forward - Balanced | Attack
• CAM
  • Playmaker - Balanced | Roaming
  • Shadow Striker - Attack
  • Half-Winger - Balanced | Attack
• RW | LW
  • Winger - Balanced | Attack
  • Inside Forward - Balanced | Attack | Roaming
  • Wide Playmaker - Attack
• ST
  • Advance Forward - Attack | Complete
  • Poacher - Attack
  • False 9 - Build-Up
  • Target Forward - Balanced | Attack | Wide

Alternate Player Roles will be introduced throughout the year, allowing you to choose from a variety of Player Items as strategies continue to evolve over time. 

Role Familiarity

Each player will have a Role Familiarity that allows them to perform their duties at a higher capacity than others. With all of the combinations of Player Roles and Role Familiarity, our aim is to have much more variety and specialisation when it comes to picking Player Items for your Football Ultimate Team™.

Base

If a player is assigned a position that is one of their preferred positions, they will have access to all of the Roles of those positions in at least a Base level.

Role+

Every player will have at least one Role+, indicating that they are accomplished in that Role.

Role++

Reserved for the best-of-the-best, the few players with Role++ are world class in that Role.

Out of Position

The yellow exclamation mark indicates a simplified version of the Role when the player is out of position.

Keep on the lookout for Special items with Role Familiarity upgrades released in select Campaigns & Programs throughout the year. 

Personalise and Share

FC IQ introduces a number of other improvements to how you set up and manage your tactics.

Tactics will now be shareable via a short code that you can show your friends or followers. Adding a tactic from a code can be done easily in-game and in the FC Companion.

You will also be able to give your tactics custom names so you can quickly switch to the desired tactic mid-match with ease.

Formation and Position Changes

We’ve also made a number of adjustments to formations and positions.

The CF and LWB/RWB positions have been removed.

The following formations have been removed or adjusted:

• Removed
  • 4-4-1-1
    • Other variations are available
  • 4-3-3 (5)
  • 5-2-2-1
• Adjusted
  • 4-3-2-1
    • 2 CF replaced by 2 CAM
  • 5-3-2
    • LWB/RWB replaced by LB/RB
  • 5-2-3
    • LWB/RWB replaced by LB/RB
  • 5-2-1-2
    • LWB/RWB replaced by LB/RB
  • 3-4-2-1
    • 2 CF replaced by 2 CAM

These are only some of the changes brought by FC IQ. For a full breakdown of the changes, check out the FC IQ Pitch Notes in the near future.

New Stadium and Match Experience

We’ve built a brand new Football Ultimate Team™ Stadium and upgraded the matchday experience with the goal of making every moment feel more alive and immersive.

New Stadium and Enhanced Atmosphere

This state-of-the-art Stadium is not only intended to look spectacular, but also to enhance the atmosphere of every match. With larger away sections, you can even bring a bigger crowd of fans to support your team on the road.

We're also taking you beyond the pitch with new locker room, tunnel, and exterior sequences leading up to the match. These areas will also reflect your customisations, making your Football Ultimate Team™ journey feel more unique than before.

Detailed Match Presentation

New broadcast sequences have been introduced to highlight the most dangerous players on the pitch as well as the squad building and tactical decisions made by you and your opponent. The match introduction will now highlight your opponents’ players with the most goals and assists, as well as any notable player debuts.

During matches, new broadcast elements have been added which reflect your team Chemistry, squad building choices, player debuts and spotlight in-form players on the pitch, featuring their goals or assists in the last 3 matches within that mode.

The new sequences featuring the stadium exterior, locker room and tunnel, along with the new on-pitch broadcast elements are available only on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Cosmetic Evolutions

We want you to have more ways to personalise your items and flex your achievements, so in EA SPORTS FC 25, Evolutions are being expanded to allow you to change the visuals of your players in all new ways, with Cosmetic Evolutions.

What can I customise?

You can add new visual elements, change the colour of your Player Items, and add animations, or even sound effects to your favourite Player Items. We’ll also have customisations that you can adorn your Player Items with to reflect your accomplishments in the game.

Cosmetic upgrades cannot be stacked, so applying a cosmetic upgrade will replace the previous one. Additionally, Evolutions which upgrade Attributes may also feature Cosmetic upgrades.

How do I unlock Cosmetic Upgrades?

Cosmetic Evolutions will be accessible through the main Evolutions page, where we’ve introduced tabs to better categorise the selection. They can be activated in the same way that other Evolutions are, and can be obtained with UT Coins, FC Points, Objectives, or rewards.

Evolve Your Favourite Player Items More Often

Evolutions can be a great way to customise and level up your favourite players, but in EA SPORTS FC 24 it wasn’t always possible to evolve the Player Items you wanted to due to entry requirements. In EA SPORTS FC 25, we will allow more flexibility in which players you upgrade. Allowing you to select the players you want, more often.

In EA SPORTS FC 25, Evolutions can have maximum limits on certain Attributes. Players who will meet or exceed the limit can still be selected for that Evolution and receive upgrades to their other Attributes, as long as they satisfy the requirements.

Community Improvements

In EA SPORTS FC 25, we’ve made a number of improvements to the Football Ultimate Team™ experience based on your feedback, and we’re excited to show them to you, so let’s get right to the chase.

Duplicate Storage & SBCs

Untradeable Duplicate Players will now have their own storage system as part of SBCs. This means that if you acquire an Untradeable Player Item that you already own, you can now store it directly in SBC Storage instead of quick selling the duplicate.

SBC Storage can hold up to 100 Untradeable Items, accessible from the new SBC Storage tab within each SBC. You will also be able to access and send Items to SBC Storage from the FC Companion.

Division Rivals

Division Rivals is intended to be your everyday destination for competitive play, and we’ve made a number of changes in EA SPORTS FC 25 to improve the experience and reduce friction points for players.

Weekly Rewards & Points

We want your hard fought draws and 90th minute equalisers to be worth something. So we’ve adjusted the reward system to be based on points instead of wins. You will now earn 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw, ensuring that your efforts in close matches are not in vain and will contribute to your weekly rewards progress.

We’ve streamlined weekly Rivals rewards into a single selection, where we were previously seeing many players unsure about which choice to pick even though many picked the same one. In addition, we’ve removed Seasonal Milestone rewards from Rivals. By simplifying the design, our team can better focus on maintaining reward tuning that is more relevant to you throughout your FC 25 Ultimate Team journey. 

Checkpoints & Relegation

We are reducing the number of checkpoints in Rivals and introducing relegation when competing in the highest divisions.

Division 1 and Division 2 will have no Checkpoints and losing a match at the beginning of a Division will result in being relegated to the end of the previous Division. As before, once you reach the Elite Division you cannot be relegated until the end of the season.

We are also reducing the total number of Checkpoints. While Checkpoints are an important and useful mechanic to give you a place to feel at ease on your journey through the Divisions, we’ve heard your feedback that sometimes after a run of matches or win streak you could get stuck at too high of a skill floor.

Legacy Division Placement

In EA SPORTS FC 25, your starting Division in Rivals will take into account your highest Division achieved from EA SPORTS FC 24. This adjustment will help you get to a well-suited Division faster, earn higher tier rewards quicker and help ensure our new players aren’t playing against our highly skilled veterans at the start of the game.

Here is an example of how your placement in EA SPORTS FC 24 will translate to EA SPORTS FC 25. Tuning is not final and subject to change:

Here is how your progress will transfer:

• If you are transitioning from a different platform, make sure you are on the same EA Account so that your Division Rank carries over from EAS FC 24 to EAS FC 25.
• If you have progress on multiple platforms, your highest Division Rank will be carried over from EAS FC 24 to EAS FC 25.

Live Football Ultimate Team™ Friendlies

We want Live Friendlies to be a place where you can experiment with new squads, Evo players, and complete Objectives against players of a similar skill level.

We are decoupling Live Friendlies and Rivals matchmaking. Instead, Live Friendlies matchmaking is now based on form. This is a similar system to Champions, but will take into account your wins and losses across all Live Friendlies, not including House Rules. As a result, you will be matched against opponents who have won or lost a similar amount of games as you have.

Contract Removal

To streamline gameplay and reduce the amount of general management, players and managers will no longer need Contracts. As a result, Contract Items have been removed from the game.

Game Settings access from the Football Ultimate Team™ Menu

We’ve added game settings to the Football Ultimate Team™ Menu, meaning you can change your settings without having to pause in-game or leave Football Ultimate Team™.

Additionally, changing between Metric and Imperial measurements will now adjust the measurement used for players' height in the Player Bio.

Thanks for checking out our Football Ultimate Team™ Pitch Notes! As always, we can’t wait to see you on the pitch on September 27. 

The EA SPORTS FC™ Team

Pre-Order EA SPORTS FC™ 25 now for PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

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