EA Sports has brought the first glimpse of the official Premier League matchday ball for FC 25 to public attention, and gamers are… well, let’s say that they’re not celebrating quite yet. The new ball, made by Puma, would see its in-game introduction on the 15th of June, this being the biggest shake-up the league has seen in terms of branding after almost thirty years of Nike. But there’s a split-the-show on the new virtual leather; while some players show excitement, others seem to be double-damning every single grievance they’ve ever had with the franchise.
From the reveal from EA Sports FC, the look is of a smart white ball with black and neon green highlights-volurious of classic Puma energy. Scroll through the replies, and one finds everything from career mode discontent to demands for free cards in Ultimate Team. One player outright said that it is “another scam” while discharging in clothes on online gameplay of FC. Ouch! Still, other players like Yorkshire Lass seemed to be all in, signing it off as “proper football gear”-which made them more psyched for some kind of virtual kickabout.
The mad thing is the immediate reaction of most: It is not just a new-season update-it’s a whole new ball game literally. References to some Tory politician who changed parties and finally, to the Nike-Puma switch after 30 years, started circulating in the comments. “Doesn’t look right to me,” said Sam-the Manchester United fan-about the design change. On the other hand, Holy_Wizard from Nigeria posed the real question: “What difference! Al-l-ballz are same!”
But here is where it gets ugly – EA Sports FC players are making this ball unveiling the perfect occasion to spew ALL their frustrations. We hear Ravi Vazirani shouting about career mode bugs from every cube of caps. Then we have Boca Juniors (yes, that’s their handle), complaining about the outrageous pricing of Gullit’s Ultimate Team. And then, of course, there exist those “release FC 26 already” cries from players who are past this iteration.
Interestingly, that ball will drop June 15, just as the real Premier League season draws to a close. A clever tying into real-world rhythms of football. But some replies show that players are already running far ahead of this: AZ_MAN is begging for “a new start in ultimate team” in the next one.
Stuck somewhere in the chaos are decent questions like that of Joseph’s concerning design specifics: “How can I get that thin line between Puma logo and Premier League.” Also, much thanks to AnaNunez for throwing in some analytics and going on to compare that with predicting breakout stars.
So all said, that ball reveal did what any good EA Sports announcement does-argue, complain, and, most importantly, engage. The community is now divided on whether the players hate it or not, but they are, without doubt, deeply invested in every single bit of the development of FC 25. Now, we have to wait and see if this ball flies a bit smoother than the complaints when the 15th of June comes around.
One thing is for sure-the virtual Premier League is stepping into a new dawn, and Landslide reactions prove that a football-gaming fan notices every stitch change. Now publicly, one can only hope that actual gameplay measures up with the fresh look by the time this month comes to an end.
