EA Sports FC 24 is shaping up to be more than just a name change for longtime virtual football enthusiasts. With new tech backing things up as well as a heavier emphasis on player expression, this is one game you won’t want to miss out on.
One of the expected modes longtime fans are familiar with is none other than Career Mode, the single-player experience that puts players into the mind of a football manager. From managing their players and competing in tournaments, this was the mode many look forward to in every new game.
To learn more about the new additions to EA Sports FC24’s Career Mode, IGN Southeast Asia spoke to Alex Constantinescu and Pete O'Donnell from EA Sports on all the new things players can expect.
How would the new Coach system change the way players engage with Career Mode?
Alex Constantinescu: Through coaches, we wanted to give more control over two different aspects, one of them would be player development and that would the player would get to implement their tactical vision into the team.
So each coach basically has a way to assess quality on how well familiar they are with the tactical vision a player may have for their team. Each in-game coach also has a star-based ranking on how knowledgeable they are to work with certain departments like goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and so on.
It's always a game of balance because you don't have limited slots inside of the coach department that you can hire and they also can learn more tactical vision. With this, it can denote how big of a boost you get from your football players in Career Mode.
A lot of attributes impact the player’s strikers, for example, and depending on what level of sharpness they got and the more knowledgeable they are, the more attributes you get to boost in that department.
And with the star-based ranking basically, depending on how many players you have in attacking, for example, we have a formula that from there that determines how many stars is needed to fill your attacking department so that they can get a significant development boost.
Pete O'Donnell: There's also a financial element to hiring coaches as there are financial costs to each of the coaches. It’s different depending on which team you’re playing because if you're playing a top tier club like Paris Saint-Germain F.C. or Manchester City F.C., you'll have the money to spend to hire the coaches. But we won't let you just hire 50 coaches, of course.
There's a certain amount of slots in your club that has to grow as you go through, so there's a limitation on that. But the key thing is kind of balancing the tactical vision with the kind of player development you’re aiming for, making sure you get the right. Also, the coaches refresh every couple of weeks as well.
How do you make sure that new players can get accustomed to the game through Career Mode?
Alex Constantinescu: It's a big challenge for us as well because we have a very passionate community. We have the tendency to spend a lot of time thinking about what our huge fan base wants and to deliver that. And even with the Coach system and whatnot, that's one of the first things that you'll get to do as you create a new a new career.
And we've been working together with our colleagues in the U.S. that's responsible for all the user experience to make it as streamlined and as simple as it can experience. Player career in general tends to be a bit more simplified and more approachable.
So we'll always have that in mind for our new users. We also take into consideration that the younger generation is more is developing more of a following for players rather than teams, so they would rather follow a certain player and follow them around to whatever team they would end up playing in rather than just following Man City through and through.
We made sure to make Career Mode in EA Sports FC24 more approachable, but at the same time, we're making sure that whoever goes into it to manage a career for the first time tries to get a good experience and hopefully turn them into one of those core audiences that love the game as much as we do.
Going back to the new Coach system, for now they are all fictional, will there be a way to bring real-life football coaches into the game?
Pete O'Donnell: That's not something we've done this year and we've definitely discussed it. When it comes to inspiration, there are obviously references in the names and the style of coaching that they bring to the table.
So we took inspiration from Jurgen Klopp, for example, because he's kind an aspiring leader and that might be something players would want for their team. Another style we referenced is Pep Guardiola and the flexibility he brings with how much he moves his players around in a match.
Of course, these real-life managers are totally unpredictable, I guess that would be like the pinnacle of trying to create a game system that's starting to make Guardiola predictable. It's going to be an impossible task for us, but we're definitely going to try and solve it. The main goal is still to give players different ways of playing.
EA Sports FC24 has a bigger emphasis on female footballers, will we see female leagues be a part of Career Mode someday?
Alex Constantinescu: It is something that we are considering in the long term. What we were hoping for and we're on a very, very good track. Our colleagues in the licensing department will secure more leagues because we identify that we need a critical mass of leagues of competition so that players will have the same opportunities offered in an all-male Career Mode.
Currently, we have women competing against each one against each other in the UEFA Women's Champions League, and our licensing partners are open to collaborating for more leagues to be included, increasing the number is certainly opening up the possibility for it. So we're closely working together to see that through and put in all the features that we develop this year.
EA Sports FC 24 will be available to on September 29, 2023, with early access through the Ultimate Edition available on September 22, 2023. Pre-orders are now available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
