FIFA 22 Career Mode Features Deep Dive
August 2021
The Pitch Notes
Hello everyone,
My name is Alex Constantinescu, Senior Game Designer on FIFA Career Mode and I’m really excited for the chance to finally go into details of what’s in store for Career Mode in FIFA 22.
We’ve made significant improvements to both Manager Career and Player Career this year that bring you more ways than ever to customize your Manager Career experience and a long overdue revamp to the Player Career experience, with complete control over your Pro's development and career progression.
There is a lot to go through, so let’s get to it!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Create Your Club
In FIFA 22, you now have the ability to create your own team in Manager Career, which is something I know a lot of you have been passionately requesting over the years.
Club Identity
You’ll start by picking your club’s name and the nickname which will be used by the commentary team.
Next, you’ll choose the league you want to play in, after which you’ll choose the team you want to replace. The number of teams participating in a league stays the same, while the team you replaced goes into the Rest of World teams.
You can choose any league in the game, carving your path to glory from the bottom tier of a country’s league system or playing against the world’s biggest teams in the top leagues. You will then choose a Rival club from within your league. Matches against your rival will be treated with higher importance in our broadcast experience and benefit from additional news coverage & stories.
Kit, Crest & Stadium Customization
You can customize your team’s home and away kits, the club’s crest as well as your home stadium. There is plenty of variation to choose from and you don’t need to fear that your team is running out of style.
Kits, crests, and your base stadium can be changed at the beginning of every new season.
We’re really excited to bring Stadium Customization into Career Mode in FIFA 22!
Pick from any of the base generic stadiums in the game and really make it your own. You can change its base color, seat color, and go deeper with changes such as the pitch pattern and the net shape.
The atmosphere around your club can be changed as well, with a wide selection of goal songs, crowd chants and walkout anthems to capture your club’s identity and style.
Stadium Customization is also available for existing clubs that don’t have a licensed stadium assigned in the game.
Squad Builder
A brand new team needs players, and that’s why my favorite part of Create Your Club is the squad builder. Here you’ll be able to populate your new team with a starting group of players. When generating these new players, you will have control over your squad’s star rating and the average age of players. Before you commit to your new squad, you can play around with the various settings until you find a squad that you want to start your journey with.
The nationality of the generated players in your squad is based on the nationality makeup of the players in the league of your choice. For example, let’s assume that 7% of the players in the English Premier League have French nationality. Each time a player is generated for your squad in the English Premier League, there’s a 7% chance that they could be French. This keeps squads feeling authentic no matter what league you choose to play in.
After setting up your squad, you can also choose your starting budget and either go from humble beginnings or create football’s next big spenders, as your transfer budget can start as high as 1 billion of your chosen currency. You can then use your budget to sign new players to strengthen key positions as soon as you begin playing.
Board Priorities
Last but not least, you will be able to change your club board’s priorities. These priorities can dictate the objectives you will receive in all categories.
Note that domestic and regional priorities will be influenced by your team’s star rating as well. For example, if you start a career with a 3 star club in LaLiga and a High Priority Domestic objective, you will have an objective to avoid relegation in the first season, given that your team is one of the weakest rated teams in the league, and a long term objective for a top 4 finish in 4 years.
There are a variety of board priority presets built into the club creation flow to help you find the right philosophy for your club. If you want to experiment, you can also tweak each individual setting to hit your sweet spot and make each playthrough feel fresh.
Player Career
We’ve made significant changes and updates to Player Career in FIFA 22 in order to refresh the mode and make your player journey more memorable.
Coming On As A Sub
A new addition to FIFA 22 Player Career is the ability to come into the match from the bench. Our aim was to deliver the experience of a young prospect climbing the ranks to the starting lineup.
Once you’ve made your way to the subs bench, you’ll be able to jump into the next match from the moment in which your Manager decides to sub you in. This will be showcased in the pre-match launcher, where you can choose to either play the remainder of the match or sim past it.
Choosing to play the remainder of the match will take you to the pitch from the moment you are subbed in, with your new Match Objectives being revealed. We’ll cover Match Objectives in greater detail later on.
Manager Rating
Manager Rating is the system that measures your manager’s belief in you as a member of the squad.
You’ll start your career as a bench player, with the manager giving you reduced minutes to impress them. If you complete the objectives set for you, your Pro will start to see increased playing time, potentially breaking into the starting 11.
On the opposite side of things, if you fail your objectives constantly you will end up getting dropped. Performing well in Training will allow you to get back in for a chance at redemption but if you constantly fail to make the squad, you may ultimately end up transfer listed. Your Pro’s overall rating determines if they will be put up for a transfer or a loan.
The requirements to make the starting 11 versus the bench are based on the quality of the squad. So you’ll have little room for failure in a top club as you’ll have to be at your best to hold on to your spot in the starting lineup, while for lower rated clubs you’re more likely to be forgiven for failing an objective occasionally.
The Manager Rating system is also in place for your relationship with your nation’s international manager. After you make the squad by becoming one of the best players in your position in the country, you will be called up to the national team. Just like at your club, you’ll need to train and complete Match Objectives to cement your starting lineup position and push your team forward to glory.
Match Objectives
You will consolidate your starting position by successfully completing all new Match Objectives. They will be revealed to you as you step on the pitch, and you also have the ability to enhance one of them and make it a personal goal for an extra Player Growth reward, which we’ll cover in more detail later on.
The Match Objectives are generated based on a couple of factors:
1. Your playing position.
If the formation of the team doesn’t include your preferred position, such as the CAM position in a 4-4-2 formation, the manager will look at your qualities in other areas of the pitch to determine which position will be best for you.
2. The quality of your team compared to the opposition.
While things start off easy in pre-season, you could receive objectives of a higher difficulty range based on the quality of the opposition, or if you’re playing against a rival club.
3. The formation your team is using compared to the one of the opposition.
If you’re a striker facing a strong defensive force in a 5-4-1 formation you can have a harder time scoring compared to a 3-4-3 formation, and FIFA 22 acknowledges that. The game also acknowledges your squad’s formation. If you’re the lone forward in the squad without a striker partner, you won’t receive any objectives to make assists.
All of these systems are working together to make sure that you have a varied set of challenges each time you step on the pitch.
Match Objectives and Coming On As A Sub are available for both Created Player and Real Player careers.
Player Growth (Created Players)
The FIFA 22 Player Career features an overhauled Player Growth system that puts the development of your created players in your hands. It’s all about earning experience points (XP) and leveling up your player as you progress through your career.
What follows is specific to using a Created Player. Playing Player Career with a Real Player will continue to work as it did in previous iterations.
Leveling Up & Earning XP
Earning XP will level up your Pro and unlock Skill Points with each new level achieved.
There are multiple ways for you to earn XP in Player Career:
1. Match Rewards -You will earn XP at the end of each match you play.
The vast majority of XP earned is based on your Match Rating at the end of the match, but you can also earn additional XP for performing different actions such as scoring goals, making tackles or winning headers. Whenever you perform an action that grants you XP at the end of the match, an icon with 3 chevrons will appear next to the Player Indicator.
2. Training -You can participate in 3 training sessions every week. The amount of XP you can earn from a training session varies depending on your preferred position. If you’re a striker for example, you’ll earn more training XP from Shooting drills than you would from Defending drills.
There are two additional XP bonuses you can earn from training:
- First Time Played Bonus - We encourage you to try out all training drills by awarding an amount of XP when you play each of them for the first time.
- Playing Bonus - Each time you play a drill rather than simulate it, you will receive bonus XP regardless of the grade you achieve.
You will also be able to make presets of your favorite training sessions to have them readily available for selection as soon as you’re prepared to train again.
3. Enhanced Match Objectives -Completing the enhanced objective of your choice will grant you bonus XP.
Once you’ve earned your share of XP, it’s decision time. With each level up, you unlock a number of skill points to spend.
Skill Tree
We based the Player Career Skill Tree on two pillars:
1. We want to ensure that player growth is in your hands.
Previously, we had a system that grew Attributes as you were playing matches. In this new approach, your Pro’s Attributes will only grow how you want them to grow.
2. Attribute increases are significant and offer a noticeable improvement in gameplay.
The Attribute boosts you unlock with each Skill Point offer noticeable upgrades.
While browsing through Skill Trees you’ll also find Archetype nodes which provide the biggest attribute boosts, allowing you to further customize your playstyle.
There are multiple paths to success and plenty of room to experiment on your path to build your ultimate player.
Perks
Another exciting addition to player growth for created players is the new Perks system.
Perks unlock as you level up and you can equip up to three of them to take into a match. Perks provide an additional performance boost on top of your Attributes and trigger automatically when certain conditions are met.
Keep an eye out for the Perk activation icon that will appear in the overhead player indicator and in the performance widget in the top right corner of the screen. When the Perk icon appears, its effects are active.
Some Perks can even boost your teammates, so it’s up to you to decide if you want to invest everything in your own abilities or bolster the team ahead of an important derby.
Here are a few of the Career Mode unique Perks which you can decide on equipping:
| Chance Creation | Boost Passing abilities for ALL teammates Vision, Passing (Short/Long), Crossing, and Curve. |
| Attacking Support | Boost Attacking abilities for ALL teammates Attacking Positioning, Finishing, Long Shots, and Shot Power. |
| Defensive Cover | Boost Defensive abilities for ALL teammates Defensive Awareness, Interceptions, and Tackling (Stand/Slide). |
On top of these, here is the full list of the available Perks:
Attacking Perks
- Distance Shooter - Increases your accuracy and power from long distance shots. Grants you the Finesse Shot trait and 5 star Weak Foot ability.
- One Time Shot - Increases your finishing ability during one time shots or headers. Grants the Finesse Shot and Power Header Traits and increases your weak foot ability.
- Set Piece Beacon - Increases your Heading Attributes during Set Pieces (Free Kick, Corner Kick, Throw In) for 5 seconds after the ball is in play and grants you the Power Header Trait.
- Clutch Finisher - Increases your shooting Attributes during the last 15 minutes and extra time. Grants the Finesse Shot and Power Header Traits and increases your weak foot ability.
- Hot Streak - Shooting Attributes boosted for a short time (15 mins) after you score a goal. Grants you the Finesse Shot and Power Header Traits and increases your weak foot ability.
- Quick Reply - Shooting Attributes boosted for a short time (15 mins) after conceding a goal. Grants the Finesse Shot and Power Header Traits and increases your weak foot ability.
Chance Creation Perks
- Assist Streak - Boosts Passing Attributes for a short time (15 mins) after assisting a goal and grants the player the Swerve Pass trait.
- Skilled Dribbler - Increases a player's dribbling and skill move abilities when dribbling with a ball while also granting them the Flair trait.
- Set Piece Specialist - Increases your players abilities during set pieces. Grants you the Giant Throw In and Set Play Specialist Trait.
- Active First Touch - Increases your ball control, acceleration, and sprint speed after a first touch.
- Threaded Pass - Increases through-pass and lofted through-pass accuracy (Vision). Grants the player the swerve trait and 5 star weak foot ability.
- Precision Pass - Increases the player's normal pass accuracy and speed (Short Pass + Long Pass) and grants players the Swerve trait and 5 star weak foot ability.
- Tireless Runner - Grants the Second Wind and Solid Player Traits.
- Pinpoint Cross - Increases crossing accuracy and ability when performing a cross and grants the player the Swerve trait and a 5 star weak foot ability.
Defensive Perks
- Defensive Closer - Increases the defending Attributes in the final 15 minutes + extra time of a match.
- Last Defender - Increases your defending Attributes when you are the last player back.
- Lock Down - Defending Attributes boosted for a short time (15 mins) after your team scores a goal.
- Cool Head - Defending Attributes boosted for a short time (15 mins) after your team concedes a goal.
- Ball Winner - Boosts jockey speed when the player does the Jockey or Sprint Jockey actions and increases the player's tackling ability.
- Physical Strength - Boosted strength, ball control, and jumping when jostling, shielding, or heading the ball.
Goalkeeper Perks
- GK Clutch Save - GK Attributes boosted in the final 15 minutes + extra time of a match.
- GK Fast Rush - GK speed boosted when GK is sprinting or rushing.
- GK Quick Reflex - GK reflexes and reactions boosted when saving.
- GK One on One - GK abilities boosted in one vs one situations for 5 seconds.
- GK Far Reach - Good at saving Distance Shots.
- GK Set Piece Expert - GK Attributes boosted during Set Pieces (Penalty Kick, Free Kick, Corner Kick, Throw In) for 5 seconds after the ball is in play.
[Perks are subject to change before launch]
Dressing Room Atmosphere
We’ve added dressing room cinematic sequences at the end of each match in Player Career. They reflect your team’s and your player’s latest performance, from celebrating trophy wins to the dramatic loss in a derby.
One of my favorite sequences has to be the one where your player snatches the MOTM award while the team loses the match, putting your player in the awkward situation of trying to hide his trophy from his teammates!
Transfers Updates
We’ve refreshed the Transfer Negotiation cinematic sequences to provide a more vivid experience as you try to get the best deal possible out of a negotiation.
We’ve also added the ability to start or stop scouting a player from the Transfer Hub.
Expanded Stories
One of our goals for FIFA 22 is to better celebrate achievements and career milestones.
News items that are focused on your stats and accomplishments will trigger when any of these events happen:
- When you reach 50/100/150/200/250 matches played, or won, as a manager or player.
- When you win the Manager of the Month award. (Manager Career)
- When a youth player from your squad has a standout debut season. (Manager Career)
- When you as a player have a standout debut season. (Player Career)
- When you as a player or a player from your squad wins the Golden Boot award.
- When your player becomes the clean sheets or assists leader in the league. (Player Career)
- When you or one of your player’s goal projection is to break a competition’s goal record and when you or they finally succeed in doing so.
On PlayStation5, Xbox Series X|S, and Stadia these accomplishments aren’t just celebrated in the news, we’ve also added pre-match intro sequences in which the commentator team will pick up on what you have achieved. New cinematics such as new team warm up sequences, locker room moments, teams inspecting the pitch as well as the groundskeeper making last minute preparations will build up the tension for important matches ahead. If your team is underperforming in an important match, you might even see the crowd leaving early!
We’ve added a new reveal cinematic when you get a new managerial job and we’ve also updated transfer announcement news to take place at the stadium, not just the press room.
Your Player Career journey will be picked up by the commentator team with banter around transfer or loan moves, your debut, or when you’re solidifying your place in the starting XI.
We improved the quality of screenshots taken from the match in the news you receive when you return to the hub, in order to make the stories more specific to your match experience.
Last but not least, we refreshed the Goal News from Elsewhere commentary in English, with former England and Arsenal WFC player Alex Scott providing minute by minute updates to matches that are played simultaneously. We’re using the latest technology to make sure that the transitions between the commentary team and Alex Scott sound as natural as possible.
Dynamic Tifos
We previously had to rely on existing player art in fan tifos, but that is now a thing of the past. In FIFA 22 if a player becomes one of the top rated players in the team or if they have a long tenure at a club, they can be used in player tifos displayed by fans ahead of an important match. And that means any player, including all of the generated ones.
Authenticity
Whether you want to be a manager or a player, we know you are passionate about authenticity, so we’ll keep holding the bar high with the inclusion of the UEFA Europa Conference League as well as other additions which will be announced at a later date.
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We really appreciate your passion for Career Mode and the fact that you’ve made it this far in reading these notes! We look forward to hearing your feedback as soon as you get your hands on the game.
Alex Constantinescu and the Career Mode Dev Team
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