FUT 21 Launch Update

Hello FIFA Ultimate Team Fans,

We hope this Pitch Notes finds you healthy and well.

My name is Yahsir Qureshi, I’m the Lead Product Manager on FIFA Ultimate Team.

FUT 21 is almost upon us and with that we know there are many questions about what we have planned across the year.

Let’s dive right in and talk about some of the things you can expect from Early Access and Worldwide Launch onwards, as a part of FIFA Ultimate Team this year.

Early Access

FUT 21 kicks off with Early Access for EA Play members starting October 1. If you pre-ordered the Champions or Ultimate Edition of FIFA 21, access will begin on October 6, three days ahead of worldwide launch on October 9. During Early Access players can earn special rewards including:

• Pre-Launch Objectives with the chance to earn a special Early Access Reward Pack, which includes an untradeable 80-84 OVR Player Pick and a 10 game loan Team Of The Week (TOTW) Player.
• Team of the Week 1 highlighting the best performing players from the world of football, available for a limited time.
• The launch of Season Objectives 1: In addition to more time in Season 1, EA Play members will also get a Season XP boost to help them on their way to level 30 rewards.
• Experience Live FUT Friendlies first with the Three Nations Themed Live FUT Friendly challenge.
• The first opportunity to experience Events with a head start in the Humans vs. Machine community event. Complete the Humans vs. Machine Objectives group to earn an untradeable Prime Electrum players pack.

To celebrate this year’s Transfer Deadline Day, Early Access will also feature, for the first time ever, exclusive Ones To Watch (OTW) content including:

• Ones To Watch Player Squad Building Challenge (SBC)
• Ones To Watch Player Pick Vote

Make sure to log into FUT on October 5 and 6, both in-game and through the Companion App, to vote for the player who you think deserves an Ones To Watch item. The winner of the vote will get a Ones To Watch Player SBC released during Ones To Watch.

Ones To Watch

Speaking of Ones To Watch, the full campaign will kick-off in-game on October 9.

Ones To Watch players are Live Player Items that upgrade based on real-world performances.

So far, we have confirmed three players who will feature in the campaign:

We’re now excited to confirm three new Ones To Watch players:

These are just some of the players that will feature in Ones To Watch, which this year will see two teams of players released over the course of the campaign.

• OTW Team 1 will be revealed and released on October 9.
• OTW Team 2 will be revealed on October 14 and released on October 16.

For those who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition before August 14, you will receive a Guaranteed OTW Item (untradeable) when OTW kicks off on October 9. The OTW Item you receive will be based on when you open your pack, per the below dates:

Stay tuned for further updates on who made the final selection for FUT 21 Ones To Watch.

Live FUT Friendlies

With Live FUT Friendlies, we’re combining Squad Rules with the different House Rules in Friendlies, to create fun and diverse new ways to play that will be active for a limited time. Live FUT Friendlies will present a new way to interact with campaigns and player programs throughout the year. Completing certain objectives in Live FUT Friendlies will earn you unique rewards.

Programs

In FUT 21, fan favourite Player Programs will be returning throughout the year with several improvements. The first of these improvements is with the introduction of the new Meaningful Moments feature.

With this new feature, certain special Player Items such as Moments will now better reflect real world footballing moments through specific upgrades to in-game Attributes and ratings adding more variety, depth and options as you build your Ultimate Team. As an example, if Trent Alexander-Arnold was to receive a Moments Item to celebrate him as a dead ball specialist in previous games, his Passing would have been increased to raise his Free Kick Accuracy Attribute. In FUT 21, we will be able to raise his Free Kick Accuracy to new heights without also impacting his Short and Long Passing to better reflect his on pitch abilities in FUT.

This year we’re also introducing Flashback Eras. Flashback Eras highlight a specific period in a player’s career which will see a unique version of the player released to reflect that time. These Player Items will now be released with more authentic Attributes of the player during the highlighted period of their career. As an example, an experienced defender may have had higher Sprint Speed in the past, with a lower Defensive Awareness. As such, his Flashback Era item will have a higher Sprint Speed rating and a lower Defensive Awareness rating when compared to his base Item.

League Players return with some changes. This year you can earn League Players with a static permanent upgrade. In addition, you will now have the opportunity to make progress towards earning League Player Items by competing in specific Live FUT Friendlies. The Live FUT Friendly squad restrictions will facilitate a more even playing field as you experiment with squad building to satisfy the Objective requirements.

But that’s not all, as we have some new Player Programs debuting during FUT 21. Stay tuned to EA SPORTS FIFA social channels for updates throughout the year.

ICONs

We’ve listened to feedback and taken the learnings and insights gathered over the past few years to revamp how ICONs will be implemented in FUT 21, creating the most comprehensive, accessible and exciting ICON program ever.

Firstly, to confirm, there will be four versions of each ICON in FUT 21.

• Base: This version often, but not always, reflects a time in the player’s career when they were still developing and had not yet reached their full potential. This version will be available in packs from the start of the EA Play Trial until mid-December 2020 only.
• Mid: This version often, but not always, reflects an ICON later in their career when they had to adapt their playstyle to stay near the top of their game. This version will be available in packs from the start of the EA Play Trial until mid-February 2021 only.
• Prime: This version often, but not always, reflects an era of an ICON’s career where they were consistently at the height of their skills and abilities. This version will be introduced into packs during the month of December 2020 and will be available until the end of FUT 21.
• Moment: This version focuses on a truly memorable, historic performance in an ICON’s career that elevated them to one of the all time greats. This version will be introduced into packs during the month of February 2021 and will be available until the end of FUT 21. This is the highest-rated version of an ICON in FUT 21.

Secondly, we’re excited to confirm that ICON SBCs are back. You’ll once again have the opportunity to earn specific ICONs by completing select SBCs. We know this is something players have wanted to return and this is how they will function in FUT 21.

• The first ICON SBCs will be introduced from late November onwards.
• ICON SBCs will be available long term, but not permanently.
• Specific versions of ICONs will only become eligible for SBC release after they’ve been released in packs for a period of time.
• After an ICON SBC expires, it may be re-released at a later date. The challenge requirements and rewards may also be updated.
• ICONs may be used as requirements in SBCs.

Lastly, the hugely popular ICON Swaps will also be returning in FUT 21. As a reminder, this is how ICON Swaps work:

1. Complete Player Token Objectives.
2. Earn Player Tokens.
3. Redeem for ICONs and other pack rewards available in an ICON Swaps release.

Based on learnings, feedback and the return of ICON SBCs, there will be a handful of changes made to ICON Swaps this year.

• ICON Swaps 1 will begin during December.
• There will be a greater mix between ICON and pack rewards, with an increased number of pack rewards.
• Packs rewards will be made available at lower Player Token values to allow more players to engage with the program.
• No specific version of an ICON (e.g. Base) released through an SBC will be released again through ICON Swaps, and vice versa.

Companion App

Jump into FUT 21 with the FUT Companion App, launching for Web on September 30th, and on Mobile on October 1st. Find out more here.

Competitive Gaming Viewership Rewards

FUT 21 also sees the introduction of brand new Competitive Gaming Viewership Rewards.

Viewers of select competitive gaming events who link their Twitch and EA accounts will receive a FGS Player Token earned for a minimum watch time of the event. Fans will be able to redeem their FGS Player Tokens for pack rewards throughout the year.

We are excited to announce more details of this new swap system and Competitive Gaming in FIFA 21 soon.

FUT Pre-Season Rewards

Any players who were eligible for Pre-Season Rewards from the FUT 20 Pre-Season campaign will be granted these by 16 October 2020. FUT 21 rewards must be redeemed by logging in to FUT 21 by 23 November 2020.

Wrap up

This is just the start of what we have planned for FUT 21 and we’re excited for you to experience all the above and so much more in what is set to be the biggest year of live content in FIFA history.

Yahsir Qureshi & the FIFA Live Team.

Please Note: This article is describing in general terms what updates the Dev Teams are working for FUT on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. We are constantly looking to improve the FIFA experience for everyone, so this article may become outdated as we make adjustments to keep our game fun for everyone.

FIFA 21 is available to pre-order* now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

*CONDITIONS, LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY. SEE https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/eaplay/US/en/PC/ FOR DETAILS.

**Conditions and restrictions apply. Click here for details.

Stay in the conversation on all things FIFA by liking us on Facebook , following us on our official Twitter and Instagram , our Dev twitter channel @EAFIFADirect, and participating in the official FIFA Forums . Sign-up to receive emails about EA SPORTS FIFA and EA products, news, events, and promotions.