EA FC 25’s Career Mode overhaul is the series’ most impressive yet

I’ve been a card-carrying Career Mode obsessive for EA FC, and its FIFA forebears, for as long as I can remember. And, while at times it can feel like the “there are dozens of us” meme with the amount of attention paid to Ultimate Team over the years, there have been some positives in the last few entries.

We saw a new transfer negotiation system in recent seasons, and the addition of personality types and a skill tree in player career, but like a wunderkind showing flashes of potential, it feels like it’s time to deliver. After playing a few hours of Career Mode at EA Romania this week, I’m pleased to say the mode finally feels like it’s reaching its potential - and it might just pull you away from Ultimate Team, too.

Headline features all round

There’s an awful lot to cover when it comes to both Manager and Player Career Mode options, and any number of them could have been headline features in recent years.

The inclusion of Women’s football, for example, isn’t just grafted onto the rest of the Career Mode experience. Whether you’re in Manager or Player Career, you’ll see transfer news for the men's and women’s games throughout, and in Manager mode, you’ll be able to switch between the two wherever your next job offer comes in.

Then there are Live Start Points, moments in time that let you pick up as a manager or player wherever the real season leaves off. Want to see if you can avoid relegation with a club at the bottom of the league? Drop right in with a few games to go and see if you can escape the drop. These will be updated throughout the season, with new Snapshots focused on getting you to keep coming back to Career Mode. You’ll even finally be able to earn season pass XP within Career Mode - something previously reserved for Ultimate Team.

These big additions arrive alongside subtle ones, like more realistic transfers. I spent some time as both Arsenal’s manager and new striker, and as the former, I saw realistic “loan to buy” offers with greater regularity than I did huge bids from smaller clubs which previously felt commonplace in last year's game.

IQ Test

Sticking with my time as manager of my beloved Gunners, EA FC 25 will give you a task list right from the jump to help acclimatize you to the deeper tactical layers available as part of Football IQ which I covered in my earlier preview.

It’s a far cry from diving in and out of menus ad nauseam in years past, and within 30 minutes I’d been wheeling and dealing like prime Harry Redknapp. Benjamin Sesko may have committed his immediate future to RB Leipzig in reality, but he slotted nicely into my Arsenal side, running onto through balls from Martin Odegaard in a way that Kai Havertz couldn’t quite do.

That’s a testament to how different player roles feel, with Havertz being a much more impressive False 9, linking up the play. What’s most impressive, however, is how the opponent AI adapts to each threat.

I played on the new Simulation settings (which I’ve already covered in depth), and an early pre-season friendly saw defenders pushing Havertz wider so he couldn’t influence the game, snapping into tackles to stop Odegaard dictating the play, and doubling up on Bukayo Saka. With a switch of player roles, I was able to find a little more room for the likes of Gabriel Jesus and new signing Sesko to play on the shoulder of the last defender.

These are all things I’ve wanted EA FC (and FIFA before it) to offer in the past, but now that AI technology has caught up, every match feels like a battle - and I mean that in the best way. I kicked off my Premier League season with a defeat to Wolves, and I was far from mad about it - Gary O’Neil’s side fought for every second ball, held a low block, and looked to break away on the counter at the Emirates, just like they would in reality. Meanwhile, my new-look attack took time to gel, suggesting I might need to spend more time on the training pitch with my new and established players alike.

The kids are alright

Another big new feature is the inclusion of youth squads. These are randomly generated, leaning on EA’s new Cranium tech to create more realistic young players (no 14-year-olds with full beards here anymore), and one of my first acts as a manager was to set development plans for promising young players.

Youth squads can be put into the new Rush mode, too, offering a chance to test them against other young teams with glory (and additional stat boosts) up for grabs in Youth Tournaments. While you can play at the players' current rankings, you can also play with them as if they’re fully developed to their maximum potential, letting you get a better idea of who could be a star of the future.

My youth team destroyed Manchester United 6–1 in the quarter-finals, and one youngster caught the eye - partially because he scored a hattrick, but partially because he stood about a foot shorter than the opposition. EA says players will grow over time, but given you can have players in youth squads from the ages of around 14 to 18, it’s a really fun way to shake up Rush - a mode that’s already really fun to play anyway.

In many ways, this feels like the year EA FC 25 comes into its own as a storytelling engine; you’ll get attached to your best young players, face the heartbreak of having to sell them to a rival, or experience the joy when they reach the top of their game. It’s been a long time coming, but I can’t wait to start signing precocious young talents to mould a squad to play my way.

Starboy

I also spent some time in Player Career, testing the flexibility of the new character creation options. While I skipped one of the new Origin Stories to create a ‘Clean Slate’ character, I was impressed that I could, right off the bat, start playing as an 18-year-old with an 83 rating.

That’s something that would’ve taken a season or two, maybe more, in last year’s game, but here it really let me hit the ground running. That initial grind for skill points is still there if you want it, but there’s a greater degree of flexibility this time around.

Still, those Simulation settings are no joke - more than once I fluffed my lines when through on goal, or saw a clumsy pass put my defence under pressure.

Final Thoughts

This is, undeniably, the EA FC and FIFA franchise’s biggest Career Mode update yet. It’s almost endlessly customizable to offer exactly what any type of football fan is looking for, and might become the offering I not only spend the most time with, but keep coming back to.

For more on EA FC 25, be sure to check out our deep-dive interview with the developers at EA Romania. Previewed on PS5. Preview access provided by the publisher.