STACK #251 September 2025

GAMING FEATURE

visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

how that affects the experience,” Sam tells us. “They really wanted us to focus on that and making the game more responsive, which we heard, and we invested in this area of the game this year in a way that we’ve never done before.” Addressing this involved working on several facets of the game. “We made a lot of improvements to gameplay directly, how animations are selected, how the systems that drive the players to contact the ball, selecting those animations and making sure that the game is very responsive,” says Sam. “From passing to shooting to dribbling, a lot of work went into responsiveness and also on the infrastructure of the game, how the game connects to the servers, latency, and things in terms of the online connection.” Careers remain ever popular, so what’s new here? “For Player Career, we added something called Archetypes which introduces 13 unique classes. This allows players to remain as authentic as possible to their career story with multiple positions available to play, depending on the selected Archetypes,” Sam reveals. “As for Manager Career, it has to be Manager Live. It’s a new, always online content delivery hub. Players can tackle real-world football scenarios throughout the season and new, always online content that invites players to mix up their Career experiences with full careers, Live Start Points, and newly added Live Challenges.” Meanwhile, Ultimate Team in FC 26 has more for players to get excited about. So, what does Sam think is the highlight here? “Competitive Gameplay, for sure! It’s a new tuning set made specifically for UT that’s built around responsiveness, more consistency, and higher player control. It provides a more skill-driven, competitive experience by reducing the impact of randomness and assistance while keeping the fast-paced and responsive gameplay our players expect in UT.” With so many new tweaks and improvements, we put Sam on the spot and asked what he’s most excited about in FC 26 … “For me, personally, it’s the authenticity in our overhauled gameplay and how players will react to it when the game launches. I talked about it earlier, but we really did expand how players move and feel on the pitch. From the way they touch the ball, to the responsiveness of AI players, it’s something we’re incredibly proud of. Players wanted core fundamental gameplay to be better and that’s what we’re delivering with FC 26 . Sue Smith – remain the same this year, they can be mixed and matched, rather than coming in set pairs. TALKING UP THE GAME While the English commentators – Guy Mowbray, Derek Rae, Stewart Robson, and

Everybody’s favourite soccer game is back this month for its latest annual instalment, and EA Sports FC 26 promises more of what fans have been asking for.We had a chat with the game’s senior producer, Sam Rivera, to get more details. Words Amy Flower SEFRAVNICE

T he promise of community feedback being heeded is a strong draw, and there’s so much new going on that Sam isn’t necessarily sure where to start. “Overhauling the gameplay fundamentals was a big one for us,” he kicks off with. “When you jump into your first match, you’ll notice the improved dribbling responsiveness and fluidity, and retuned run curves that players on the pitch showcase. “This makes for more explosive player movement and offers better control with increased responsiveness and more consistent outcomes. Combine that with reliable positioning from AI teammates, and you’ll notice just how authentic FC 26 feels.” That’s just the start of newly implemented features based on fan feedback though. It’s goalie time! “We’re also looking forward to how audiences play with the improved goalkeeper,” Sam continues. “You’ll see how much more consistent and reliable they are when handling ball deflections and how they position themselves. New volumetric animations have also been added to make goalkeepers feel

• EA Sports FC 26 is out Sep 26

more fluid and realistic in their movements. These adjustments add so many more layers when defending or attacking the goal.” Those additions would be enough for some fans, but wait, there’s more! “Presets are another big one,” says Sam enthusiastically. “We added an Authentic Gameplay preset which delivers the most authentic simulation of real-world football in FC ever, like, real-world success rates for corner kicks, the lifelike chaos during goalmouth scrambles, and more. “However, if players lean more on the competitive side, we recommend checking out the Competitive Gameplay preset which makes changes tailored toward online head-to-head play, like introducing competitive positioning, and fewer auto-tackles, to name a few.” When asking for community feedback you may not always like what you hear, but FC fans were full of great ideas. Game responsiveness topped the list. “So, the most common community feedback that we heard was around online gameplay responsiveness and how players were experiencing delay when playing the game and

68 SEPTEMBER 2025

jbhifi.com.au