EA is gearing up to release its second association football simulator since parting ways with FIFA and relinquishing the World Cup license in 2022. The new EA Sports FC franchise doesn’t seem to be hindered by the loss, and market conditions will likely prevent any serious competitors from emerging in the near future.
EA Sports FC 25 introduces several gameplay enhancements and new modes. A revamped AI system aims to deliver more realistic matches, and a new rush mode enables co-op play in 5v5 games. The game also introduces the first fully-featured career modes for female players, allowing users to manage a player or team in one of five top-ranked women’s leagues.
The system requirements remain modest, with 12 GB of RAM and either an AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti recommended. The game requires 100 GB of storage space. However, early-access players on Steam have reported issues with controller support, which has dragged the game’s Steam review rating down to Mixed. EA has released a workaround guide while the company investigates the issue.
Despite EA’s split from FIFA two years ago and the latter’s pledge to create a better football game, no such competitor seems to be on the horizon. Earlier this year, rumors circulated that 2K Games had secured a deal to develop FIFA 2K25, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick denied these reports, explaining that licensing for association football is more complex than for American football, basketball, or baseball.