{"id":727489,"date":"2026-08-04T19:28:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/727489\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T19:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:28:16","slug":"this-years-ea-sports-fc-is-definitely-different-and-im-eager-to-see-how-its-received","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/727489\/","title":{"rendered":"This Year’s EA Sports FC Is Definitely Different, and I’m Eager to See How It’s Received"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

EA Sports invited me to watch its various preview presentations for FC 27<\/a>, which is launching officially on 25th September.<\/p>\n

But among all the usual buzzwords about advanced defensive AI and improved off-the-ball runs, I was most compelled to learn about The Grounds, the game\u2019s new social sandbox mode, which will only be available in the next-gen version of the game.<\/p>\n

Every year the publisher announces a new soccer sim and is met with criticism of the game being identical to years past.<\/p>\n

One year, the game may play slower, attracting criticism from fans \u2013 so it\u2019ll overcompensate by making the next year\u2019s entry feel faster. Rinse and repeat for eternity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But The Grounds does represent something genuinely new for the series, I\u2019m just curious how longtime fans are going to respond to it.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever played any of the NBA 2K<\/a> games, this mode has been lifted directly from it. Divided into three distinct districts inspired by the UK, France, and Argentina, you\u2019ll be able to explore as your avatar and interact with minigames and matches.<\/p>\n

On the competitive end of the scale, this is where Clubs will exist: your traditional 11-on-11 full-size matches, which can be accessed via a stadium hub in the middle of the sandbox.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

I assume there\u2019ll be ways to load directly into this area, but you\u2019ll also be able to access it on-foot if you really want to, a bit like The Rec in 2K Sports\u2019 basketball games.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s that on-foot exploration that\u2019s really bringing something different to EA Sports FC 27, and I\u2019m curious how fans are going to react to it.<\/p>\n

Around the open world, you\u2019ll find small pitches where you can queue up for one-on-ones or five-a-sides, as well as minigames like obstacle courses and even a basketball-inspired twist on original football.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

EA Sports says it\u2019s building this like a live service, so new minigames will be introduced over time, while the theme of the sandboxes will change. I got to see an in-development Halloween event, for example, where the world is decorated with pumpkins and other time-limited activities.<\/p>\n

One thing I was really shocked to see is that there are collectibles within the world, and you can stop at any time and drop-kick your football in their direction to collect them. I wonder if there\u2019ll be more interactions like this to discover in the final game.<\/p>\n

Of course, EA Sports wants to monetise this, and there\u2019ll be various in-game shops flogging digital gear, from real-life brands like Puma and Adidas. Again, this is just like NBA 2K, and I imagine there\u2019ll be new content added every week.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

While I personally am intrigued by all this, I wonder how many people are going to actually play it.<\/p>\n

To be fair, The City is arguably the most successful mode in NBA 2K, and some players spend hundreds of dollars perfecting their builds to take online.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not convinced it\u2019s going to be anywhere near as successful in EA Sports FC 27, but I\u2019m certainly intrigued to see how this is all received.<\/p>\n

If nothing else, you\u2019ve got to give the publisher credit for actually incorporating something new in this year\u2019s game \u2013 even if it did steal its homework from NBA 2K.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on The Grounds in EA Sports FC 27? (109 votes)
\nI think it’s a good addition, I’ll be trying it4%I’m not sure, but I’m open to giving it a go18%It’s a waste of resources, no one will play it31%I don’t care about EA Sports FC 2747%<\/p>\n

\"Sammy<\/p>\n

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He\u2019s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EA Sports invited me to watch its various preview presentations for FC 27, which is launching officially on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[45734,71516,59,112,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-727489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ea-sports","tag-ea-sports-fc","tag-gb","tag-ps5","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}