FIFA 22 Ultimate Team Launch Update

Sep 16, 2021

Hello FIFA Ultimate Team Fans,

My name is Jamey Cane, Product Manager on FIFA Ultimate Team, and today I’ll be sharing a glimpse of what we have planned for FUT 22. 

Here’s a quick overview of what to expect:

• Early Access
• Ones To Watch
• Performance-Based Programs
• FUT Heroes
• ICONs
• Preview Packs
• EA Play Member Benefits
• FUT Pre-Season Rewards
• Companion App

Let’s begin by running through some of the things you can expect from Early Access and Worldwide Launch.

Early Access

EA Play members can kick off their FUT 22 journey with a 10 hour trial starting from September 22. EA Play Pro players will have full game access on PC starting from September 22. For those who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition, full game access will begin September 27, 4 days ahead of worldwide launch on October 1. 

During Early Access you’ll find the following content:

• An untradeable 80-84 OVR Player Pick and a 10 game loan Team of the Week (TOTW) player earned via special Early Access Objectives.
• Team of the Week #1 with boosted Items highlighting the best performing players from the previous week’s footballing action. Plus the first Featured TOTW Item of FUT 22. More on that later.
• A limited-time Early Access Live FUT Friendly where you can compete for pack rewards.

On top of that, kick off Ones To Watch (OTW) early with an OTW Player Squad Building Challenge (SBC) available exclusively during Early Access. 

Please refer to THIS article for details on when Pre-order content will be delivered. 

Ones To Watch

On the topic of Ones To Watch, the full campaign launches on October 1.

As a reminder, Ones To Watch (OTW) celebrates the transfer window’s biggest moves with dynamic Items that have the potential to upgrade based on how players perform for their new clubs.

As players earn Team of the Week and Man of the Match Items throughout the season, their OTW Items will upgrade as well.

New for FUT 22, OTW Items will also be eligible for a ‘Wins to Watch’ upgrade. This is a one-time, +1 In-Form boost given to an OTW Item if their new club wins five out of their next ten domestic league games starting from October 1!

In FUT 21, there were 22 OTW Items released across Team 1 and 2. This year, to help celebrate an astonishing transfer window, 6 additional OTW Items will be made available across both Team 1 and 2 for a total of 28. Two groups of 3 OTW Items will join their respective Team through Mini Releases on Sundays as outlined in the table below.

For those who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition, you will receive a Guaranteed OTW Item (untradeable) when OTW kicks off on October 1. The OTW Item you receive will be based on when you open your pack, per the below dates:

NOTE: On days with pack content changes, the pack content will update at 17:00 UTC.

Stay tuned for further updates on who made the final selection for FUT 22 Ones To Watch.

Performance-Based Programs

A common thread of feedback we see around Performance-Based Programs such as Team of the Week, Man of the Match, or Player of the Month is that their ratings tend to fall behind the ratings of Items released as part of Campaigns as we move throughout the year. FUT’s unique connection to the real world of football is part of what makes the mode special. To help these Program releases better match the excItement of the footballing event they celebrate, we’ll be making some adjustments to our Performance-Based Programs throughout the year. Today, we’ll talk about one of those changes.

Introducing Featured Team Of The Week Items, a brand new way to celebrate the performance of a select Team of the Week player each week. Instead of a standard TOTW boost, Featured TOTW Items will be given a larger boost, increasing their appeal in squad building.

At launch, to be eligible for a Featured TOTW Item, a player’s highest rated Base or Performance-Based Item must be rated 80 or below and they must not have an active Live Item (Eg. Ones To Watch).

In addition, any future Performance-Based Items these players earn will build off of this boosted rating.

Below is an example of a potential Jude Bellingham Featured TOTW Item compared to a standard TOTW boost.

^{NOTE: Bellingham is not guaranteed to receive a TOTW or Featured TOTW Item, this example is for illustrative purposes only, including the stats, which might also differ should Bellingham earn a TOTW or Featured TOTW Item during FUT 22.}

In the example above, you’ll notice the star icon above the Overall Rating on the Featured TOTW Item. This icon will visually distinguish Featured TOTW Items from standard TOTW Items. An important note is that Featured TOTW Items will still function as regular TOTW Items do across various aspects of FUT including in SBCs, Squad Requirements, Mode Rewards, Objective Requirements, and packs.

Featured TOTW Items are just one of the ways we hope to refresh our Performance-Based Programs throughout FUT 22. Stay tuned for more.

FUT Heroes

FUT Heroes are coming to FUT 22! Celebrate some of football’s most memorable players with FUT Heroes Items that represent the unforgettable moments that turned them into fan favorites.

All 19 FUT Heroes will be available in FUT starting from the Worldwide launch on October 1 and will remain in FUT for the entirety of FUT 22. There may be additional versions made available as part of select FUT 22 Campaigns and Programs. In case you missed it, you can see their ratings here!

ICONs

This year, 4 new players join the elite ranks of FUT ICONs. In case you missed it, we've already revealed 3; Cafu, Iker Casillas, and Robin van Persie. Stayed tuned for the announcement of the final ICON coming soon. 

Based on your feedback, the ICON Program in FUT 22 will see many of the popular elements from FUT 21 return for another year. Namely ICON Swaps and ICONs SBCs will feature again.

We can also confirm that there will be four versions of each ICON in FUT 22; Base, Mid, Prime, and Moments. The Base and Mid versions will be available in FUT from launch with the subsequent versions made available throughout the year.

Stay tuned for more info on the ICON Program later this year.

Preview Packs

Following a positive reception from fans after their introduction in FIFA 21, Preview Packs will be available in FIFA 22 on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, Stadia and PC. As a reminder, Preview Packs are a pack type that allow you to see all the specific Items contained within. Once you have seen what is in the pack, you can choose to buy the pack, with either FUT Coins or FIFA Points. 

At launch you can expect to see the following:

• The Premium Gold Pack will be available for Preview on a 24 hour refresh timer alongside the non-Preview version.
• The Premium Silver Pack will be available for Preview on a 24 hour refresh timer alongside the non-Preview version.

EA Play Member Benefits

This year we are expanding our offerings for EA Play** members. In addition to the 10 hour Early Access trial and 10% member discount on FIFA Points and other EA digital purchases, members will get Seasonal Boosts in FUT, Seasonal VOLTA COINS & Apparel Items in VOLTA FOOTBALL as well as Monthly FUT Stadium customisation Items throughout the season. 

FUT Pre-Season Rewards

Players who were eligible for Pre-Season Rewards from the FUT 22 Pre-Season Campaign will be granted these by 12 October 2021. FUT 22 rewards must be redeemed by logging in to FUT 22 by 12 November 2021.

Companion App

Kick off your FUT 22 journey with the FUT Companion App, launching for Web September 22 and Mobile September 23. The latest that you will be able to use the FUT Companion App without logging into the full game is October 17th.

Wrap Up

This is just a fraction of what we have planned for FUT 22. We have so much more in store and we can’t wait to share it with you. See you on the pitch.

Jamey Cane & the FIFA Live Team.

For more deep dives on FIFA from members of the game team, check out the Pitch Notes Page.

The FIFA 22 Ultimate Team season kick-offs on October 1st. Pre-order* the FIFA 22 Ultimate Edition to receive a guaranteed Ones To Watch Player and more.

Please Note: This article is describing in general terms what the Dev Teams are working on. 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.

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