EA Sports FC 25 is implementing a paid season pass for Ultimate Team, Career Mode and Pro Clubs
The Premium Pass will be available for purchase with both FC Points and Coins.
EA Sports FC 25 will introduce a paid season pass alongside its free track for the first time. The Premium Tier pass will be persistent across Career Mode, Pro Clubs and Ultimate Team and dish out packs, players and cosmetic customisation items.
The Premium Tier will be available for purchase with both FC Points and Ultimate Team coins, and will function similarly to the current free season track in FC 24’s Ultimate Team, where Ultimate Team players complete objectives to earn XP and unlock rewards like coin boosts, player packs and special player and Icon items.
In screenshots seen by VG247, the Premium Tier appeared as an extra reward once players reached a certain reward level in the free Season Track. As players complete objectives and gain XP, they unlock free and Premium Tier rewards at the same time.
“The free tier would be essentially what players see in the game today,” Karthik Venkateshan, a Producer on Ultimate Team, told VG247 at an EA Sports FC 25 preview event.
“Like you can go back into the game and see the free tier as it would be what it was in 24 - then the premium pass is something we’re adding on top. That’ll be a shared thing across Clubs, Career and Ultimate Team. That’s new for 25.”
“At a high level, there will be nothing in the paid tier that can’t be earned in the free tier,” Richard Waltz, Game Design Director for Ultimate Team, explained. “There’s no exclusive rewards that will mean that you have to do that. We’re going to be having players, packs, that sort of thing, in Clubs, customisation options.
“It’s also good to note that it will be available for both coins and FC Points as well, so you can decide.”
No exact pricing for the Premium Season Pass was given.
EA Sports has also announced a slew of new features for FC 25 Ultimate Team, as well as the new season’s game in general. One long-requested quality-of-life feature that's being added is Duplicate Storage for untradeable items which can then be used in SBCs.
You can now be relegated from Rivals divisions so you’re not stuck playing above your level, while Friendlies matchmaking has also been decoupled from the Rivals ELO system to reduce the over-competitiveness of the intended casual game type.
Weekly Rewards will also be rejigged to unlock via a points-based system, with three points for a win and one for a draw so that players still feel like they’re making progress when a game finishes even. Rewards for higher ranks will apparently be better than they have been in the past too.
Then for Evolutions, EA is also looking at making entry requirements less strict so you can use your favourite players more often and reduce the focus on making meta players the ‘best’ choice (who then instantly go extinct on the market).
EA Sports FC 25 is also introducing a 5-a-side game type called Rush, which will be implemented in Career Mode, Pro Clubs and Ultimate Team. Replacing VOLTA, Ultimate Team Rush is a 4-player social space where each person brings a single item from their UT collection to play a small-sided game.
For more on what’s new, including further reaching updates like FC IQ, a total revamp of the underlying tactics engine that underpins EA Sports FC’s gameplay, check out our EA Sports FC 25 hands-on preview.
EA Sports FC 25 will be released on September 27.