Oh my beloved Career Mode, why does it feel as though nobody cares about you but me? For years I’ve enjoyed sitting down with the latest EA Sports football game and starting my manager career, only to be disappointed by the lack of meaningful differences from the last game. With FC 26, however, it looks like some positive changes are finally happening.
Having had the chance to try the new gameplay modes, I also got to hear from EA Sports FC 26 Game Director Pete O’Donnell, and Career Mode Producer Andreas Wilsdorf. And frankly, as a long time Career Mode enjoyer and sufferer, what they had to say was music to my ears.
There are four main pillars it seems, and we’ll go through these here. They are Manager Live, Manager Market, Authentic Gameplay, and Unexpected Events. But there are also smaller details, such as the fact you can now play Manager Career with icons as well as heroes from Ultimate Team. EA says you can get deeper stats now, updates to Player Career, and some origin stories that show off the Be a Keeper mode.
FC 26 Career Mode: Manager Live
Manager Live is an attempt to create challenges within the game, as opposed to players creating their own narratives. It sounds a bit like how the Pokemon Nuzlocke mode changes the core game to be a specific challenge. EA Sports says that the challenges will include some more basic ideas like winning one of the leagues or cups, but also things such as earning an amount of money from a transfer, or staving off relegation with a certain set of players. You can even play out overcoming a points deduction if you fancy.
The example used was Nottingham Forest pushing higher up the table than was expected in the 24/25 season. Challenges are going to be dropped on a weekly basis to try and keep the real world of football inside your FC 26 Career Mode. EA says the aim is to drop 150 of them across the year.
This live service style feature means the developer can also highlight more niche happenings in the real world sport, shining a light on things that you might not know about if you’re laser focused on the Premier League, for example. Similar to how Ultimate Team is using Gauntlet mode to break up the meta, Manager Live seems like it’s designed to get you trying out a team in the Eredivisie instead of starting your same old Manchester City career mode.
In terms of rewards for playing out these challenges, there are two types. EA says there are 35 retro kits you can get as part of the Manager Live rewards. These include retro Real Madrid, German national team, that delicious England “Italia 90” kit, and a lovely retro Napoli kit. There seems to be a good spread, so fingers crossed for some deep cuts.
The other type of reward is the chance to use Icons and Heroes in Manager Career, offering the chance to try out some really strange experiences, mixing those amazing players of old into the modern game but outside of Ultimate Team. There are four icons at release (Kluivert, Torres, Varon, and Pichon) with a further three (Kroos, Morgan, and Zlatan) available as pre-order incentives, but EA plans to release 200 icons and heroes.
FC 26 Career Mode: Manager Market
Obviously all of these additions are relating to a more fantasy football style of Manager Mode, but the main Career Mode I so adore is also getting some love. Manager Market, for example, means that managers can (and will) move clubs mid-season, just like in the real world. There are even the options for a caretaker manager taking over as the full manager if they do well.
This manager market shows all manner of stories that are happening, which will show job security of individual managers and leagues, with their tactics and even the likelihood of them being booted from their position. You can also edit Manager Names, meaning if you fancy putting your friend in charge of Leeds, you can do so. There’s a watchlist which you can add managers to, meaning even if the jobs are not available right now, you will know when they are.
The Authentic Gameplay mode has been made for Career Mode, and the aim here is to make the actual on-pitch action feel more like the real sport. Defenders will act more like their real-world counterparts, and EA says this should all combine to make you feel like you have to think more about how to build up on the pitch.
Unexpected Events
Adding to the realism, FC 26 is going to throw in “Unexpected Events”, which will throw things into the mix like point deductions, and even food poisoning causing teams to be altered suddenly. Likewise, you can now have a player go off on international duty and be sent home with an injury. I really hope this can add some much needed life to Career Mode, and EA mentioning things like new signings having trouble settling in, homesick players, or even new owners taking over all give me hope. But this will be a thing I need to see and feel in action, but finally: there’s hope for Career Mode to feel less safe.
The world of football has become hugely data-driven now. Teams like Liverpool work out who they want to sign based on facts and figures, not hype. FC 26 will let you get deeper into the stats, and looks like it’s borrowing from Football Manager a little. You can select five other leagues to simulate on the same level as the one you’ve chosen to play in. These simulations mean you can see stats you otherwise couldn’t, which is a nice addition.
So not sweeping changes, per say, but enough to give hope. That’s sometimes all you can ask for, right? Player Career, then, is adding the “Archetype System”. There’s thirteen of them in total, and you can’t change them mid-career. You’ll create a player and select a position, building around the archetype. There’s also some new origin stories (Rising Star, Hand of Gold) for those who love that kind of thing.
I’ve been playing the single player experiences of FIFA (now FC) for a very long time. I’ve also attended a lot of these pre-release presentations, and have come away impressed but feeling “another year, another game” a bit. It does genuinely seem as though FC 26 is shining a light on Career Mode in a big way. Obviously it’ll depend on how this all comes together when playing it, but it’s been many years since I’ve been genuinely excited to sit down with the mode, and that’s a good sign. Fingers crossed, Career Mode players.
EA Sports FC 26 is coming to PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2 on September 26th.
