EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global Series Basics: FUT Champions Verified, EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global S…

As we referenced in our previous Pitch Notes article on the Weekend League, big changes are ahead for competitive FUT this year. We have been amazed by the levels of competition and passion that our players have shown while competing in FUT Champions, so we are excited to announce all the details of the new season of EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global Series over the coming weeks.

Today, we want to focus on how players will qualify for FUT Champions Cups and Licensed Qualifying Events this season.

PREVIOUSLY IN COMPETITIVE FIFA
The Ultimate Team Championship series (FIFA 17) and FIFA 18 Global Series both relied on the FUT Champions Weekend League to qualify competitors directly into EA-run live events. This created strong, healthy competition, but the mechanics meant that players qualified from the Weekend League to just a few events every year. We want to continue to use the Weekend League as a proving ground to identify our top competitors, but remove the pressure of direct qualification during qualifying months.

Beyond EA events, we also featured league events and third-party events in the FIFA 18 Global Series. Third party events were an important part of the competitive ecosystem, but we often had territory restrictions that were difficult for competitors to find information. We want to standardize the qualification process for events, allowing the best competitors to find, attempt to qualify for, and (if they earn a place) play in more third party and EA live events against other players around the world.

Finally, qualifications to the Ultimate Team Championship and FIFA 18 Global Series Playoffs were based on seats awarded for a single performance at a live event rather than a holistic view of performance for the whole year, meaning that finishing in second place often wasn’t good enough to get to the next level. For the FIFA 18 Global Series, we wanted to experiment with a Last Chance FUT Champions Qualifying Weekend to shorten the qualification window and fill in some of the remaining seats for the Playoffs. While that weekend was filled with passion and drama, it ended up accounting for more seats in the Playoffs than intended because of the overall event structure for the year. Based on community feedback emphasizing that the seats should have gone to competitors who placed well at live events, we want to remove direct seat qualifications and create a system that rewards overall performance throughout the season.

HOW TO COMPETE

Eligible players interested in EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global Series* should take the following steps:

1. Register on FUTChampions.com by Oct 31, 2018.
2. Play in Weekend League and achieve at least 27 Wins to become FUT Champions Verified.
3. FUT Champions Verified competitors may be invited to and play in Online qualification competitions, competing head-to-head against other top eligible players to earn a spot at a live event.
4. Earn EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global Series Points through live events and the Weekend League to get placed on the leaderboard.
5. Qualify for the Playoffs by finishing in the Top 60 on the Points leaderboard at the end of the year.

REGISTER
Registration begins on October 5, 2018 and ends on October 31, 2018 — all eligible players interested in becoming a competitor in the upcoming year must register during this period. Please note that players who do not complete their registration by October 31, 2018 will be ineligible to compete in any FUT Champions Cups or Licensed Qualifying Events during FIFA 19 Global Series. The process of qualification starts with FUT Champions. Players no longer qualify directly to live events via the Weekend League, but the journey to the top still begins there.

BECOME FUT CHAMPIONS VERIFIED
Eligible players prove that they are good enough to compete in FIFA 19 competitive gaming by racking up wins in the FUT Champions Weekend League. Registered players can become FUT Champions Verified by winning 27 games in a single Weekend League. Once a player achieves Verified status, they don’t have to worry about winning a specific amount of games in the Weekend League again for the rest of the season.


HEAD-TO-HEAD QUALIFYING COMPETITIONS
Once a competitor is FUT Champions Verified, they may be invited to subsequent Online Qualification Tournaments for FUT Champions Cups and Licensed Qualifying Events throughout the season. Every Live Event will have a cutoff date by which you must be FUT Champions Verified in order to compete. Each live event will have multiple Online Qualification Tournaments for different regions, creating regular global qualification opportunities.

These tournaments will utilize a combination of Swiss and Single Elimination formats to determine live event qualification. This means that only organized head-to-head tournaments among the top FUT Champions players in the world will determine qualification for live events, rather than skill points on a leaderboard. To be the best, you will have to beat the best. Online Qualification Tournaments will often take place during a single weekend, with schedules and the allocation of seats per region for each live event .
More details on live events will be shared soon.


EARN POINTS
In order to qualify for the FIFA 19 Global Series Playoffs, FUT Champions Verified Players will be able to earn EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global Series Points by competing in live events or playing in the Weekend League. Live events will provide the most Points, while a smaller (but not insignificant) number can be earned by achieving 20 to 27+ wins in Weekend Leagues from November through April. We know that FUT Champions is an exciting and important part of the competitive ecosystem and we want to reward players for continuing to compete, even if it's not mandatory.

Don't forget that players must be both registered and FUT Champions Verified to be eligible to earn EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global Series Points.


CLIMB THE LEADERBOARD
Throughout the year, players will be ranked (per PlayStation and Xbox) based on the number of Points they've earned in comparison with the competition. Near the end of the season, the top eligible 60 players on each PlayStation and Xbox leaderboard will be invited to the FIFA 19 Global Series Playoffs. Following the Playoffs, which will award Points (not direct seat qualifications), the top 16 players on each PlayStation and Xbox's leaderboard, will qualify for the FIFA eWorld Cup, where the FIFA 19 World Champion will be crowned. The Playoffs will be the last chance to earn Points in the competitive year.

More details including events, dates, and qualification timelines will be revealed on October 5th.

FIFA 19 is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Stay in the conversation on all things FIFA by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and Instagram, and participating in the official FIFA Forums. Sign-up to receive emails about EA SPORTS FIFA and EA products, news, events, and promotions.

* Eligibility and restrictions apply. Official Rules can be found in www.futchampions.com when available.