EA SPORTS FC™ 27 | Gameplay Developer Launch Update

Gameplay

Welcome to the Gameplay Developer Launch Update.

First of all, the Gameplay Team is really excited to see everyone getting their hands on FC 27. Alongside your feedback, we’re also monitoring gameplay data to understand how things are playing out across the game. We can see players adapting to things like the increased emphasis on manual defending, while also trying out newer mechanics like the updated corner kicks.

For now, we’re going to keep an eye on how things develop as everyone learns the game and settles into the way FC 27 plays, while also looking into any concerns that become wider topics across the community.

Table of Contents

• What We’re Hearing From You
• What We’re Working On

What We’re Hearing From You

We wanted to share a few things that we’ve been monitoring, but it's important to acknowledge the most important piece of feedback we got from you last year. You asked us to give you more time to learn the game, to settle in, and to enjoy the experience without title updates changing how the game feels. 

We're taking that feedback to heart. We’re going to be very measured when it comes to any changes to core gameplay, looking at the wider feedback we’re hearing alongside our data and considering what’s best for FC 27 over the long term.  

So, while we’re going to mention some things we're watching, it's important to note that an item appearing on this list doesn't mean that changes are coming. It simply means we’re keeping an eye on it because it’s something you’re talking about.

Fullbacks

One of the largest quantities of feedback we’ve received has been around fullbacks dropping too early and breaking the defensive line. 

We know this can be frustrating when it leads to a goal, so we’ve been doing some work to better understand what’s happening and identify a potential fix if one becomes necessary. Given your feedback about giving the game time before making changes that may have a significant impact on how the game plays, we’re going to continue our investigation before making any adjustments.

Goals from Kick-off

We’ve also seen conversations about kick off goals happening more often. We’ve noticed some early movement in the data that we’re keeping an eye on to understand whether it develops into a wider trend. We’ll continue to keep a close eye on this and investigate what could be causing the increase.

Passing and Interceptions

There has been some discussion around the balance between passing and interceptions. Our design goals are to reward the manual defender for getting into passing lanes, and we feel we’re achieving that. That said, players using items with lower defensive attributes may be too effective at making the types of interceptions you’d typically expect to see from the best defenders. We'll continue to keep an eye on this, but we want to make sure manual defending is rewarded. 

Shooting

Another topic that has come up is the balance between shooting types. We’ve seen feedback that low driven shots, particularly towards the near post, can be stronger than other options. One of our core philosophies is that players should be rewarded for earning a shot from a dangerous area. We’re pretty happy with the current balance between shooting and goalkeeping, but we’ll continue to monitor your feedback and our data for any potential outliers.

What We’re Working On

While we aren’t changing anything that would impact core gameplay, we are looking into several issues related to fouls. For example, we’ve seen reports of referees not giving the correct outcome following certain challenges, which the team is currently investigating.

We’ve heard the feedback that the game changes too much early in the year and are committed to not making changes too quickly. We’ll continue to monitor your feedback, continue watching your videos and reading your threads, but we won’t rush to make changes until we’re confident there’s an issue that needs to be addressed.

We’ll be hosting a Gameplay specific Q&A in the Official EA SPORTS FC Discord, stay tuned for an official date and time announcement. You can also continue to share your FC 27 through the Player Feedback Portal.  Enjoy the game, and keep letting us know what you think!

-The FC Gameplay Development Team