The most exciting announcement dropped by EA Sports FC 26, the latest iteration in the long-running football series, hardly received goodwill from the audience. The tweet states, “Game. On. ️,” along with the pre-order link and a lovely promo image selling what appears to be some kind of brand-new gameplay experience “powered by community feedback.” But judging by player reactions, the line to donate wallets to EA hasn’t exactly formed.
Boots and cleats first: According to one reply by Grok, the renamed FIFA successor, EA Sports FC 26, will be hitting the stores on September 18, 2025. The pre-order of the Ultimate Edition will grant one early access for seven days, starting September 11. The main selling point? Two new gameplay modes—Authentic and Competitive—which are based on some kind of real match data. On paper, this sounds great, but gamers have heard these promises more than once.
Oh, and the replies are spicy. Some have gone ahead and just called this an outright scam. “Scam on,” says Eugenio Arpayoglou, while FiveStarGer accuses EA of literal “copy and paste.” X_Littlelion11 elaborates: “These rotten brained FIFA fans gonna eat this shit up and then buy the same game next year.”
Not all are bearing feces down upon the game yet, but some optimistic doubt enlightens some responses. “This is actually interesting. Let’s hope they don’t fuck it up,” says Sayarix. Meanwhile, Eric Nofsinger speaks his mind about the “community-driven” approach, calling it game-changing. But really, that is the minority amidst a flood of skepticism.
Here, things get strange: SBoggess18040 is begging EA to unban his profile pic so that he could change it; PepitoArgento_2 goes off in Spanish about how the game “looks like a mobile game.” Then there’s the one pistol who just wants a better character creator. Priorities, right?
The most important takeaway: They are sick of the yearly releases. “Why can’t y’all make one FC and just update the damn game,” says Notabotuwu17. Many others concur: Why put down $60+ every year for what feels like a roster update?
Now, the question: will FC 26 actually deliver? EA promises a big change. But the trust of communities seems to be taking its leave. If they do, bravo. If not, as Mard1888 states: “All the PR won’t save you this year, Mr. FIFA.”
“Game on,” of course. But for how much longer?
