EA FC 25 release date, cover, editions, trailers, and more

When is the EA FC 25 release date? Now heading into the second year of the EA FC era, the legendary soccer game series is going to have to continue building on the foundations to remain the top dog. After all, with games like UFL and FIFA’s new enterprise set to challenge its premiership, EA may have solid competition on the pitch.

While EA FC 24 did introduce its Hypermotion motion capture tech and a shinier iteration of the Frostbite Engine, these iterative upgrades to one of the best soccer games were expected. We’re hoping to see bigger and better things from EA FC 25 as the multiplayer game continues to evolve. Here’s what you can expect from EA FC 25, which is definitely not just FIFA 25 in a new package, including the latest on the release date, the cover star, and much more.

For nearly 20 years, EA has more often than not opted to drop its next soccer game iteration on the last Friday of September – a cadence it’s once again committing to with this year’s game. Before the big reveal, a report from reliable leaker ‘billbil-kun’ got the date spot on. EA had also confirmed that EA FC 25 would be released before the end of September in its 2024 financial results report back in May.

As is tradition, early access will be on the cards for those who stump up the extra cash for the Ultimate Edition of the game. EA FC 25 will follow the precedent set by last year’s game by offering up a lengthy seven-day early access period, beginning on Friday, September 20, 2024. The release time is yet to be confirmed, but we’ll update this guide as soon as we know.

EA FC 25 trailer

The only EA FC 25 trailer we’ve had so far is the official reveal trailer that aired in mid-July 2024. In typical EA fashion, the trailer is composed of in-engine footage. During the trailer, the new Rush mode (more on that later) is teased alongside the revamped tactics and positioning system, FC IQ, as well as a glimpse at some of the EA FC 25 heroes. The trailer uses a remixed version of Radiohead’s ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ – a top-tier tune.

EA FC 25 gameplay

From what we’ve seen of EA FC 25’s gameplay so far, it looks to be much of the same as last year’s game – no surprises there. However, it does have a few new and improved tricks up its sleeve. For example, player roles have been simplified and condensed into the new FC IQ system that should hopefully make tactics more impactful. Additionally, FC 25 custom tactics codes now exist, allowing you to quickly share your perfected squad layout with friends and followers alike.

EA’s also adding new goalkeeper PlayStyles, including the Deflector+ PlayStyle showcased in the gameplay deep dive above. Again, this should make it much easier to differentiate between a serviceable keeper and a world-beating one.

As previously mentioned, only the Ultimate Edition of the game will provide you with early access to the game, so you’ll have to cough up if you want to get ahead of the curve in Ultimate Team, or simply can’t wait for launch day. Here’s what you get in each EA FC 25 edition:

Standard

• EA FC 25 base game
• FC 25 Ultimate Team Player Loan Item
• Ambassador Loan Item
• Clubs PlayStyles Slot
• 250,000 Clubs Coins
• Player Career Personality Points
• 3 Icons in Player Career
• 5-star Coach in Manager Career
• 5-star Youth Scout in Manager Career

Ultimate

• EA FC 25 base game
• FC 25 Ultimate Team Player Loan Item
• Ambassador Loan Item
• Clubs PlayStyles Slot
• 250,000 Clubs Coins
• Player Career Personality Points
• 3 Icons in Player Career
• 5-star Coach in Manager Career
• 5-star Youth Scout in Manager Career
• Untradeable Ultimate Team Hero Player Item
• Untradeable Ultimate Team Player Item for EA FC 24 (not on Switch)
• Up to 7 Days Early Access
• 4,600 FC Points (3,850 FC Points on Switch)
• Player Evolution Slot
• Early Access Rush Rewards

EA has also revealed the EA FC 25 Ultimate Edition cover on the same day, featuring five of soccer’s most iconic stars past and present: Aitana Bonmatí, David Beckham, Gianluigi Buffon, Jude Bellingham, and Zinedine Zidane. Surrounding the group, you’ll find a mixture of domestic trophies including the league cups from La Liga, Serie A, and the Premier League, as well as international gongs.

Most notable, of course, is the coveted Champions League trophy — an accolade won a collective six times between them. Bonmatí leads the charge, having won three of the last four WCLs with Barcelona. Meanwhile, Beckham, Bellingham, and Zidane have one apiece.

EA FC 25 Rush mode

The new EA FC 25 Rush mode may be EA’s worst-kept secret considering how much info on it has leaked. Replacing the unpopular Volta, Rush will allow you to take a player from your FC Ultimate Team and put them into a five-a-side game, played on a smaller pitch.

Naturally, the rules of the games are slightly revised to accommodate the smaller pitch:

• Race-to-ball kickoff
• Blue card (sin bin) instead of red – players return to the pitch faster if the opposition team scores
• Offside rule applies only in attacking third
• No fixed positions for players
• Penalties are dribble 1v1s against the keeper
• Zero fatigue

Ultimate Team isn’t the only mode Rush will be integrated with, either. Clubs, Career Mode, and Kickoff will also be able to tap into it. Most exciting is the way you’ll be able to use Rush to develop youth players in career mode, allowing you to personally push their growth in smaller, quicker games.

EA FC 25 Clubs

Clubs has had quite the revamp coming into EA FC 25. Not only has relegation returned to the fray – it might be time to fix that win-loss record – but there are a slew of new ways to make your club feel more cohesive.

The headline feature here is the Clubhouse, a brand-new social space that will see your fellow clubmates appear in a locker room decked out in your team’s colors. And the identity building doesn’t stop there.

Clubs progression has also had a shake-up, with the introduction of club facilities like weight rooms and staff like equipment managers that can be upgraded or hired to give the whole team a tidy stat boost. Facilities can be upgraded from a one-star to a three-star rating, with each star enhancing two attributes for the squad. As you can imagine, you’ll need the right facilities to upgrade the right stats – a running track for sprint speed and stamina, for example. You can read more on what’s coming to Clubs here.

EA FC 25 Ultimate Team

Ultimate Team is set to receive some highly-requested quality-of-life improvements – chiefly to duplicate storage – alongside a deeper integration with FC IQ. You can get a better idea of how this system works more generally in our EA FC 25 custom tactics codes guide, but specifically for UT the big one is that manager cards will now come with preset tactics.

If you want to build an attack with short passes while pressing high defensively, pack Pep Guardiola. If you want to defend more aggressively, then Big Ange Postecoglou is your man – just don’t be Spursy on the pitch…

On top of this, EA’s making Evolutions more flexible. While specific attributes will have maximum limits, you can still use an evo on a player to improve other ones even if that evo is supposed to boost the maxed stat. You can also customize your evo cards with new cosmetics, including borders, animations, and sound effects for the ultimate flex.

Division Rivals is also getting a switch-up. Weekly rewards will now be dished out based on points instead of wins, meaning your draws will finally count for something. As with Clubs, relegation is heading to Rivals – at least to Division 1 and 2. Checkpoints won’t exist in these divisions, meaning you can be instantly relegated to the end of the previous division if you lose your first game in the new tier – savage.

Surprisingly, EA decided to squirrel away the tantalizing tidbit that contracts are being removed to the very end of their patch notes post on UT. That’s right, you’ll no longer have to mess around with the consumables just to keep your favorite players on the pitch.

EA FC 25 Career mode

Though Career mode isn’t getting the same level of love as EA FC 25’s other modes, there are still some welcome tweaks to the long-standing formula. Most notably, you’ll finally be able to do your best Joe Montemurro or Emma Hayes impression with the introduction of women’s teams to the mode.

You can also now take Icons like David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane and bang them into your dream team in Icon player career mode. Of course, you’re still more than welcome to establish your own soccer dynasty in player career, which has been embellished with attribute-affecting origin stories – whether it’s rags-to-riches, returning from a near-career-ending injury, or following in the path of a parent.

A final introduction is Live Start Points. These allow you to drop into a manager season part-way through, taking the reins of a club that’s in a relegation battle, or a fallen giant that’s wallowing in a mid-table spot. You can read more about everything coming to Career mode here.

And that’s all we have for now on the EA FC 25 release date. While you’re waiting to lace up your cleats for the next installment of EA’s soccer series, be sure to check out if EA FC 25 crossplay has been confirmed as well as more of the best sports games out there. If you’re worrying about whether your setup can handle it, check out the EA FC 25 system requirements to put your mind at rest.