We all know that for years now, it has felt like Career mode in the EA FC series has been neglected. As frustrating as that has been for gamers who much prefer the single-player experience in sports games, I get it — Ultimate Team brings in the money. But this year, EA seems to have done something that is both unexpected and welcome. That is dividing EA FC 26 gameplay into two distinct areas: Competitive and Authentic.
In the past, EA FC has retained the same gameplay across all modes, no matter what. This meant that patches intended for Ultimate Team also affected Clubs, Career mode, and so on. But with competitive online and single-player modes now being given their own place, that has changed. And that’s a great start.
However, it’s going to take more than that to convince longtime fans of the series to return to Career mode in EA FC 26. And now, EA has released its full deep dive into what Career mode will be like this year. So let’s break it down!
Manager Live Allows Players To Relive Moments
One of the main selling points this year seems to be the Manager Live Career, a dynamic hub designed to give players an ever-changing array of challenges and scenarios. Rather than committing to a single club for multiple seasons, players can now jump into weekly and monthly challenges inspired by real-life football events.
Obviously, this is a bit of a niche thing. And if I understand single-player sports gamers the way I think I do, they’re going to want a lot more to do than just relive cool moments from the past. That said, it certainly offers a unique experience that many will at least dabble in. After all, who doesn’t want to overcome a -20 points deduction?
Deeper Simulation, Data, And Scouting
OK, now that we’ve gotten the obligatory “main selling point” out of the way, let’s talk about what a lot of you are really looking at when it comes to EA FC 26 Career mode — namely, the simulation aspects, scouting, and data.
New this year is the “Deeper Simulation” option, allowing players to select up to five additional leagues to simulate alongside their main one. This, in theory, should add more realism to transfers, scouting, and league performance due to them no longer being simulated in the background.
Even better, you can now view historical player data — and real-world stats from the 2024-25 season — such as goals, assists, clean sheets, and match ratings. These stats directly inform scouting reports, player evaluations, and transfer strategies.
On paper, I love this. As our readers surely know by now, I’m a massive Football Manager fan, so data analysis and realistic scouting reports are kind of my thing. Do I expect EA FC 26 Career mode to have that same kind of depth? Obviously not. But providing somewhat of a decent experience whilst allowing players to actively take part in matches is surely a nice new wrinkle from players who demand more than just a beefed-up Season mode.
Toning Up The Drama
On its own, football is a great sport that revolves around willpower, skill, and tactical prowess. But you know what really makes it what it is? The drama around it. And EA FC 26 will at least attempt to replicate some of that this year in Career mode.
Borrowing from narrative-driven games, the newly added Unexpected Events and Decision Points introduce mid-season, which forces you to adapt. Be it surprise injuries sustained in training or international duty, morale issues, boardroom meddling, or transfer sagas, these dynamic events encourage the user to make tough calls that have ripple effects throughout their saves.
Beyond that, EA FC 26 is introducing the Manager Market, which keeps track of every club in the league and offers performance evaluations to each of them. Which ones are thriving in their environments? Which ones are failing and might be sacked? You can also see how likely you are to be considered for a job should that manager position become vacant. Additionally, caretaker managers (think interim coaches) have been introduced in FC 26, allowing players to be given a trial run with a club to see if they’re a good fit long-term.
Again, from a Football Manager perspective, these are welcome changes. What it’s going to come down to is how these changes will work in practice. Will certain things occur way too often? Others, not as much? Either way, I’m excited for this.
Quality-Of-Life Changes
Beyond the aforementioned big features that are coming to EA FC 26 Career mode, there are also several quality-of-life changes that will be implemented:
- Improved AI lineup logic based on match importance and player form.
- Smarter transfer logic to avoid squad hoarding.
- Loan freshly bought players, even in the same transfer window.
- Youth tournament substitutions, new stadium tiers, and national team training plans.
- Custom tactical setups, with revamped roles like Inverted Wingbacks and Ball-Playing Keepers.
- Contract negotiation overhauls, where players reach out when they’re ready to renew (or not).
- Dismiss Contract Tasks, save file timestamps, and onboarding revamps smooth out frustrating parts of the experience.
- You can now choose to manage ICONs and Heroes, though this supposedly requires a season pass
Again, all of these changes are good and work in terms of immersion. At this point, it’s just a matter of EA successfully implementing them. And, for everyone’s sake, I hope they can.
Will Career mode be perfect in EA FC 26? Absolutely not, and perfection is not possible if we’re being honest. But, for the first time in years, these new additions and tweaks should make the Career mode crowd feel seen.
We’ll be keeping an eye out. And you bet we’ll be giving Career mode a try when EA FC 26 finally drops in a few months.
