Since the moment I discovered football as a kid, I’ve always been fascinated by the sport through a team and tactics-focused lens. I love seeing the art of 11 players taking on another 11-man team in a tactical chess match to see who can break through first. This is one of the reasons I’ve gravitated to Clubs (formerly known as Pro Clubs) in the FIFA/EA FC series over the years.
I don’t have anything against Ultimate Team or Career mode. But Clubs is currently the only mode in any football game that actually allows you to participate in full-on 11v11 gameplay. So you can imagine my frustration when I opened up the mode for the first time in EA FC 26 late last week and saw what I saw.
Upon opening Clubs for the first time, I had to navigate the new Archetypes system. It was a lot to take in at first, so I pretty much elected to skip it for now and allocate my Attribute Points later on once I had an idea of what was going on (and take in feedback from friends that had already played). Then I tabbed a bit to the right and saw it — Clubs this year has a microtransactions system. And it has nothing to do with cosmetics.
Hi Clubs, Meet Club Store
So, what exactly are these new microtransactions, and how do they affect the Clubs ecosphere? Essentially, for right now, they are consumable boosts that you can spend either Club Points (earned through gameplay) or FC Points (premium currency that requires real cash to buy) to acquire. They can either grant players instant AXP to gain more Attribute Points or apply a multiplier on the number of AXP that can be earned over a certain number of matches.
For instance, if you want to skip the grind, you can spend currency on either a fixed amount of Instant AXP or you can purchase modifiers that will allow you to progress quickly as you play matches. It sounds simple enough, but keep this in mind — these kinds of microtransactions have never been a part of Clubs before.
In years past, the only way to earn points for your build was to actually play the game. You could play with your friends in League matches or, if you enjoyed a different kind of small-man experience, you could go into Rush and grind that way in quicker, more offense-oriented matches. Now, all you need to do to avoid the grind is open your wallet.
Why This Type Of Approach Is Bad For Clubs
On its face, I would really care about this if it were just limited to that. But that’s not the only problem I have. This year, you don’t get 5 different builds that you can universally alter based on your progression. Instead, all of your progress is focused on one Archetype. And in order to unlock another, you have to spend 25,000 Club Points or 200 FC Points. Even if the cost for 200 FC Points is just under $2, that still doesn’t excuse it.
What we have in Clubs right now is a system that is taken straight out of the NBA 2K MyPlayer playbook, in which players are expected to either play a crapton or pay real money in order to progress and be competitive. In theory, I don’t mind the new Archetype system, which forces you to choose a build and stick with it. What I do have a problem with is the fact that I need to play a ton — or pay actual money — if I decide that something isn’t for me. And that, in my humble opinion, is exactly the kind of predatory practice that creates an incredibly unbalanced experience.
Maybe I’m overreacting. But the fact that these kinds of monetized schemes have now spread beyond the already draining Ultimate Team makes me feel a certain way.
