Ever since the EA FC 26 trailer dropped, the football community has been buzzing. It’s arguably one of the best FC or FIFA trailers EA has released in recent times. The main reason for this acclaim is that everything in the teaser is centred around the gameplay. No more movies, cinematics, and other shenanigans — just pure beautiful football.
To keep the fans hyped, EA has also released a gameplay deep dive, which explains all the new features teased in the trailer in more depth. In this article, we’ll be breaking down the gameplay deep dive for EA FC 26 and listing down all the new things in the game.
EA FC 26 Gameplay Deep Dive
This year, EA has been touting that they have listened to the fans and “Made Gameplay Better.” While that can only be proved once the game is officially out, let’s take a look at everything revealed so far.
Competitive And Authentic Gameplay
According to the developers, this is the biggest change of the year. EA FC 26 will feature 2 separate gameplay presets. Firstly, we have competitive gameplay, which is locked for all online player modes. These are your FUT, Clubs, etc. The competitive gameplay preset will feature fast, dynamic, and attacking football. This means that skilled players will have an edge over the general audience. Since online players tend to complain about the gameplay mechanics, giving them their own gameplay preset is a valid move by EA.
Other than the gameplay being faster, the competitive preset will also give you more control on the pitch and feel more responsive in general. In the realm of defending, this responsiveness means that auto tackles will occur less, and you’ll have to actively take control of your defenders. If you perform good tackles, however, you’ll be rewarded for your timing and engagement, with fewer tackles bouncing back to your opponents. Additionally, the goalies have been revamped for this preset. They will parry the ball to safety more often, reducing the chances of rebound goals.
On the other side, the authentic gameplay preset is built for the general audience. This is best for players of the offline modes like Career, Kickoff, etc. While the gameplay in this preset will still be responsive, it will be a bit slower compared to the competitive preset. Here, the main focus is to provide a simulation-style experience, with authentic animations, graphics, and gameplay.
In the authentic gameplay preset, the matches will feel less rapid fire and more unpredictable. The AI defense will be more active in this preset, and auto tackles will occur more often. According to the developers, all the fundamental revamps applied to the competitive preset will also be applied to the authentic preset. However, the gameplay pace in both presets will be completely different. (Note: You can change the preset in offline mode to competitive, but the preset in online mode is not changeable.)
Refined Gameplay Fundamentals
While EA says this every year, they seem to be backing up their claims this year. According to the developers, all fundamental aspects of football have been refined to make the gameplay feel better. From shooting to goalkeeping, everything has been touched upon, so let’s take a look.
Goalkeeping
This is the thing most important to me, and perhaps to all other players of EA FC. If you’ve played EA FC 25, you have an idea about how inconsistent the keepers are in the game. Fortunately, EA seems to have solved this problem in EA FC 26. In the new iteration, keepers will be more responsive and consistent in general. The developers have used machine learning to train the keepers in different situations. So, they’ll feature better positioning, blocking, and defense.
Pace And Responsiveness
We talked about responsiveness in the gameplay presets, but what about the individual responsiveness of players? Well, EA has seemed to tweak that as well. Players will now feel more responsive and agile. Additionally, players who have high pace stats will be more explosive on the field. We saw something similar in EA FC 25, with players like Vini and Mbappe leaving defenders in the dust. This should be even better in EA FC 26.
Tackles And Interceptions
Another huge concern. EA FC 25 felt more like a ping pong game rather than football. You make a perfectly timed tackle, and somehow, you don’t win possession. Instead, the ball bounces back to your opponent. Thankfully, this seems to be solved in EA FC 26. According to EA, they’ve dedicated hundreds of hours to solve this specific problem, and now you’ll be able to retain possession after clean tackles.
Passing And Dribbling
The passing and dribbling mechanics were also touched upon. In EA FC 25, both passing and dribbling felt sluggish. Fortunately, they’re going to be more fluid in EA FC 26. EA also mentioned that both of these mechanics will feel different in both gameplay presets, so you’ll have to test them out to see which one you prefer. Overall, though, both should feel more responsive in either of the presets compared to FC 25.
Low Driven Shots
Low-driven shots are back! One of the most beloved mechanics by the community is making its way back to FC, and according to the developers, it’s better than ever. You’ll be able to make low-driven shots in all shot types by pressing the shoot button twice. Everything from finesse to power shots can now be low-driven. This is replacing the timed finished mechanic, though, so precision shooting will now be the primary skill-based mechanic.
More Features
Other than everything discussed above, more features have been refined to make the gameplay feel more dynamic. These include better runs from your teammates during attacking situations, new ball-shielding mechanics, and tweaks to the other general aspects. Overall, the gameplay seems to have gone through a complete redesign, which is exciting, to say the least.
Feedback Inspired Features
Closing this list and the gameplay deep dive, we have the feedback-inspired features. As the name suggests, all of these features are inspired by community feedback. From playstyles to a brand new high contrast mode, here are all the features EA has added by listening to the fans.
High Contrast Mode
The high contrast mode is a new accessibility feature that will be added to EA FC 26. You can turn it on from the settings and customize it according to your preference. Everything from pitch saturation to shadows will be customizable in this mode, so you can tailor the graphics to your liking.
Simplified Skill Moves
New skill moves have been added to the game that cater to beginner players. You’ll now be able to perform relevant skill moves by just flicking your right stick, helping you create space.
New Playstyles
Fans wanted more playstyles and EA has somewhat listened. Five new playstyles are making their way to EA FC 26. However, these aren’t all new. Instead, EA has removed some of the older playstyles and reworked their mechanics into the new ones. Here are all the playstyles that got booted:
- Power Header
- Aerial
- Trivela
- Flair
And here are all the new playstyles:
- Enforcer
- Aerial Fortress
- Precision Header
- Gamechanger
- Inventive
Looking at the names of the new playstyles, you should be able to guess what they do. Most of them are just refined mechanics of the previous ones. Aerial Fortress replaces Aerial, Precision Header replaces Power Header, Gamechanger replaces Trivela, and Inventive replaces Flair. The only new playstyle added is the Enforcer. This is a defensive playstyle, and any player who has it will be able to perform dribble Shoulder challenges and shield with increased effectiveness.
This is everything that was talked about in the gameplay deep dive. As we move closer to the release, more details will be revealed, so keep an eye out for pieces like these. Finally, as far as the features go, EA seems dedicated to adding community-inspired features. This means we can hope to see extra features added to EA FC 26 through patch updates once the game comes out.
