The incredibly successful EA Sports and FIFA partnership is over. Now EA Sports has lost the licence, the successor to FIFA 23 will be called EA Sports FC 24 instead.
This is a major departure for the football series, with many FIFA fans concerned (or maybe even excited) that it could spark numerous other changes for the football game series.
The good news is that the loss of the FIFA branding won’t affect the licensing for leagues, teams and players. EA FC 24 will feature all of the major leagues, with the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Series A and more all included. And the only major team to be absent looks to be AC Milan – all of its players will still appear in the game, just with a different team name and kit.
The bad news is that EA Sports FC may not be able to make World Cup editions in the future with FIFA owning the licensing rights, but we won’t need to worry about that until 2026.
For now, what changes can you expect to see with the transfer switch from FIFA 23 or EA Sports FC 24? We’ve highlighted the key changes below.
More realistic player animations
EA is pushing its new HyperMotionV technology as one of the biggest upgrades for EA Sports FC 24. This uses volumetric data from more than 180 professional men’s and women’s football matches to simulate more realistic animations for in-game players.
EA claims there will be a remarkable 1200 different signature run styles in its new game, helping to make each player look and feel unique.
The enhanced Frostbite engine should also help to make in-game players look more accurate to their real-life counterparts. EA suggests player models will be 10x more anatomically precise than in FIFA 23, while football shirts can stretch and ripple for more authentic visuals.
FIFA 23 finally introduced Women’s Football to the series, but it was restricted to its own section within the game, and so had no crossover with the Men’s Football.
This has changed for EA FC 23, as women footballers will be sharing the pitch with men for the latest iteration of Ultimate Team. This will allow you to build hybrid squads, so you can have both Erling Haaland and Sam Kerr in the same lineup.
EA will also be introducing six new Women’s Football competitions to the series: UEFA Women’s Champions League, Barclays Women’s Super League, National Women’s Soccer League, D1 Arkema, Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga and Liga F.
Ultimate Team Evolutions
When receiving a player card in past FIFA games, including FIFA 23, all of the numerical ratings would be fixed in place. That’s changing for FC 24, as you’ll now be able to train up select players to improve their ratings.
EA explains that you’ll be able to complete a set of objectives to improve the individual skills of players. We assume there must be some mechanic to prevent players from upgrading all of their cards to a 100 rating, but it’s certainly intriguing that you’ll be able to level up cards which could mean that silver and bronze cards will no longer go to waste.
EA also confirmed that you will be able to modify the appearance of your cards, adding new designs and animated backgrounds to make them stand out more and showcase milestones they a player has achieved at your club.
Player Agents for Player Mode
Agents will play a more active role in Player Mode for EA Sports FC 24. Instead of leaving all the transfer business up to you, EA claims agents will now be able to offer advice for the next step in your footballing career.
All-new Career Path objectives will open up new ways for you to be able to influence external clubs to make a transfer bid for you. There isn’t a huge amount of details on this just yet, but it may well make transfer sagas even more dramatic.
Hire your own backroom staff in Manager Mode
It looks like EA Sports FC 24 could be taking a leaf out of the Football Manager series, as it looks like you’ll be able to micromanage the club by hiring your own backroom staff. This feature hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but one of the pre-order bonuses for FC 24 includes a 5-star coach for the Manager Career mode.
EA has at least confirmed that FC 24 players will have more control over coaches and tactics, while new training features will also be introduced. Gone are the days when Manager Mode simply meant playing as your favourite club on matchday – now you’re expected to get more involved in the backroom, just like Klopp and Guardiola.
