EA Sports FC 24 leaks: What’s known about the FIFA 23 successor
After a fruitful marriage spanning almost three decades, EA Sports and FIFA are breaking up – FIFA 23 is the last of EA’s soccer games carrying the world soccer federation’s branding. What would otherwise have been FIFA 24 will instead be called EA Sports FC 24, though fans don’t need to fear about too many things changing: You’ll still get your annual refresh, your Ultimate Team mode, and all of your beloved licenses.
That said, it’s certain that EA Sports will use this new beginning and the following years to test the limits, expand the series’ horizon, and change a few things here and there – after all, being creatively restricted by FIFA was one of the chief complaints the developer had about working with the federation. Will that balancing act between innovation and nostalgic fan service work? Only time will be able to tell us that story.
For now, all we can do is collect all official tidbits and leaks in an effort to compile everything we know about EA Sports FC 24 before its official reveal over the next couple of months.
EA Sports FC 24 licenses
The FIFA name may be gone, but – to loosely quote an EA executive – that’s “just four letters on a box.” EA Sports will only lose the rights to the World Cup and the FIFA brand, and considering Qatar 2022 it may well be happy to be rid of those.
All the relevant leagues, clubs, and players have signed licensing agreements with EA Sports separately from FIFA, so EA Sports FC 24 will be as much of a license hoarder as FIFA 23 is.
EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Team
Whatever the successor to FIFA Ultimate Team may be called – it could simply be renamed to Football Ultimate Team to retain the popular FUT brand –, it’s clear that EA Sports would never part ways with the ultimate cash cow it has created. Indeed, recent leaks indicate that EA will lean into its series’ microtransactions even further by adding a common gacha mechanic, a so-called pity counter, to the game. That probably won’t help all those gambling accusations.
These “Dynamic Packs” would increase a player’s odds of pulling an item with a high rating in case they got unlucky a few too many times in a row. We’ll have to wait and see how exactly this will be implemented, as players are already worried about the pay-to-win potential of this aspect.
The leaker claims to know that more than 25 new cards of the Icon and Hero types will be added.
EA Sports FC 24 transfer market
The transfer market is another element of the game that would be impacted by such changes to how card packs work. FUTZone, who is the leaker behind those Ultimate Team changes as well, teased some meaningful market changes that would presumably allow the in-game economy to cope with the influx of highly rated cards generated by the pity mechanic.
EA Sports FC 24 online career mode
An online career mode players can play with their friends has been on top of many wish lists for a long time now, and it seems like EA Sports FC 24 will finally make that dream come true. It’s been FUTZone once again, who claims that the mode will be included in the next game.
According to the leaker’s source, who seems to have taken part in recent pre-alpha tests, this online career mode will contain all of the regular clubs, but supports players creating their own teams as well. There seem to be limits on player numbers and transfers per season as well.
EA Sports FC 24 Volta, Pro Clubs, and Women’s mode
EA Sports
The iconic Pro Clubs mode, which allows 22 players to face off with each controlling a single athlete on the field, will likely get a crossplay function, helping it stay active throughout the year – though the technical implementation seems to be a bit troublesome at the moment.
Volta is getting another complete revamp, while EA Sports seems like it will continue to expand on the women’s leagues – possibly with their Ultimate Team debut. A competitive co-op mode is said to be in production as well.
EA Sports FC 24 release date
In terms of release date, we expect EA Sports FC 24 to follow in FIFA’s footsteps by launching in September or October 2023.
Reliable video games insider bilbil-kun is supporting a September 29, 2023, release date as well.
EA has a huge and well-oiled marketing machinery behind its soccer titles, which will likely beat the same drums as usual to get people hyped. Besides, releasing around its usual time window will fortify its position on the market, signaling less well-informed players that EA Sports FC 24 is indeed the game they’ve been waiting for.
EA Sports FC 24 cover star
According to bilbil-kun, Erling Haaland will be featured on the cover of EA Sports FC 24's Standard Edition.
The Ultimate Edition's cover supposedly consists of a collage with images of 31 athletes, Haaland among them. Sam Kerr, Son Heung-min, Vinicius Jr., Zinedine Zidane, Johan Cruyff, and Pelé seem to be among the featured players as well.
The price of the Standard Edition is said to be $69.99 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Please note that some of the information presented in this article is subject to change, as it's based on a pre-alpha build of the game.
