Following the release of FIFA 23, EA Sports and FIFA will end their nearly three-decade-long partnership, marking the true end to an era for many soccer fans around the world. With its move away from FIFA, EA Sports will continue to release more titles under the name EA Sports FC and will likely use FIFA 23 as a blueprint for the release of the first EA Sports FC title. Despite all the changes already announced for Career Mode, EA Sports will need some new and innovative game modes to capture the imagination of its fans and to ensure its future titles have something that can attract fans away from FIFA.
The Career Mode breakdown of FIFA 23 highlighted some big changes for the game with new features and additions to both Manager and Player Career Modes that will finally give fans a complete experience. With all the changes, however, there is one key option that EA Sports FC could include which would help set it apart from future FIFA titles: the ability to relive the career of some of the best players in the game. Giving players the option to start a Player Career Mode with an existing player like Messi or Ronaldo, and having them start off at age 16 with minimal stats, could give players the unique experience of building up their favorite players.
Relive The Best Careers
With this type of option in Career Mode, fans can not only relive the careers of some of the best players but can also aid in the development of these players, and possibly experience them as a totally different type of player. Fans can pick Messi and see how he would play in a deep playmaker role, or Cristiano Ronaldo could be used as a target man striker from the start to quicken his development. This type of Player Career Mode will allow players to rewrite the history books and forge the player they wanted using the template of an already existing player.
Giving fans the option to restart the career of their favorite players also grants them the ability to experience a full Career Mode run as those players. This is especially useful for players like Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Modric, and Messi, all of whom are in their late-30s and will probably not play for another 15 seasons. Further, starting off in their first teams and gradually building their reputation until they get their big break would be a great story mode addition to Player Career Mode.
A Fresh Start
The experimentation possibilities in this game mode does not stop at re-positioning the fan’s favorite player, but it also means having these players join different teams. This addition to Player Career Mode can answer questions fans have had for years, like what would happen if Messi joined Real Madrid instead of Barcelona, or if Ronaldo got his big break at Liverpool instead of Manchester United. Further, the selected player would start off in the current season, so they will be playing with current teams rather than the teams they played with when they were 16, giving them a faster growth rate and more competition.
A unique look at how the landscape of the sport would change depending on when and where these star players got their big break is something that every soccer fan thinks about. EA Sports FC now has a chance to give fans this unique experience and completely change the trajectory of a player’s career. Further, just like in the original Player Career Mode, fans should be given the option to switch their star player to a manager and put them in control of the player’s childhood team in a road-to-glory Manager Career Mode playthrough.
While EA Sports FC may still be over a year away, the dissolution of FIFA will likely affect the gaming company greatly; after all, many soccer fans are likely to follow FIFA rather than EA Sports. So, to maintain its massive fan base and ensure that more people pick up its game, EA Sports needs to make its next soccer game a unique experience. Adding in unique Career Mode playthroughs like this would be a perfect opportunity, as many fans will likely pick up the game for the sole reason of reliving and reforging some of the greatest soccer players' careers.
FIFA 23 is set to release in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.