We're taking a look into the future and how the next game of EA's football series - FC 24 - will shape up, with women leaked to be included in Ultimate Team.
Rumours have been swirling about the addition of women players to the title's most popular game mode since EA put out an announcement after the split from FIFA, and they are gaining tracking on socials again.
Find out all you need to know about women in FC 24 Ultimate Team and how it will be different from FIFA 24 below.
EA and FIFA Split
Before we get into the leak, we need to straighten things out when referring to FIFA, FC 24 and Ultimate Team or FUT!
The FIFA gaming franchise is no longer being developed by EA, with EA starting its own title, FC 24.
FC 24 will effectively be the next title in the series, with all the same game modes and gameplay that we've come to expect over the years (hopefully with plenty of improvements and new additions), just without the FIFA name.
Ultimate Team is part of the EA brand, as can be seen in the Madden series with MUT (Madden Ultimate Team) and NHL with HUT (Hockey Ultimate Team), so with EA naming their title FC 24, Ultimate Team can still be referred to as FUT (either meaning FC 24 Ultimate Team or Football Ultimate Team).
However, FIFA will still be looking to develop a FIFA 24 game, with President Gianni Infantino making this bold statement:
"I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans. The FIFA name is the only global, original title. FIFA 23, FIFA 24, FIFA 25 and FIFA 26, and so on - the constant is the FIFA name and it will remain forever and remain THE BEST."
With the previous partners now making rival titles there could be a scrappy battle on to see who can lure the most fans to their title!
With FIFA still searching for a game developer to work with, EA is clearly in the lead.
EA already has the gameplay and a model to build upon, has secured deals for licenses with major leagues and player associations and is bringing more women's teams to the title.
With more women's clubs coming in FC 24, it opens up the door to expand into a Women's Career Mode and to include women in Ultimate Team!
Women Leaked for FUT
There have been rumours that women players will be included in FC 24 Ultimate Team since EA dropped a reveal trailer that featured multiple women's clubs.
Although there is still nothing concrete, leakers have started mentioning this again, giving some weight to the idea.
EA is introducing the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and all 12 clubs, as well as the UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) competition and knockout stage clubs in March, showing its intent for covering the women's game.
With all clubs from the Barclays Women's Super League (WSL) and Division 1 Arkema included from the release of FIFA 23, FC 24 looks set to build on the momentum and add even more women's clubs!
Including Women in Ultimate Team
It will be interesting to see how women players will be included in FC 24 Ultimate Team as there are plenty of things for the designers to consider.
One idea that has been put forward is that there will be a totally separate Women's Ultimate Team just featuring the female players, but that doesn't seem like the way to go for us.
Surely, the women players will just be added to the player pool of the usual FUT roster, with their starting overall rating taken from the initial FC 24 rating, just like what currently happens.
The women's cards would be treated the same as the men's, with upgrades coming via special items in promos, SBCs and objectives.
There are a couple of key areas that need to be thought about in development.
First, how the chemistry will work. Would Mason Mount and Sam Kerr share chemistry, as they represent the men's and women's sides for Chelsea, or would they be considered separate clubs? Likewise, would the Premier League share chemistry with the WSL?
We think that the easier it is to link male and female players, the better the experience will be, and the more likely you are to try to field a mixed team.
With that thinking, it would be a good idea for men's and women's cards to share the same club, and the leagues can be linked too based on the tier system of each country (e.g. the Premier League and WSL would share chemistry, as would Ligue 1 and D1 Arkema, as they are the top-tiered leagues for England and France for the men and women.
The most important aspect will be making sure the men's and women's players are balanced gameplay-wise.
This should be easy enough, as we already see it rolled out in Pro Clubs.
However, something EA mentioned regarding the Hypermotion 2.0 technology in FIFA 23 was that men's and women's players move in distinctive ways, and if this impacts in-game ability at all then that will be found out in Ultimate Team!
The FUT community are always looking to find an edge over the opposition, so if there is a clear advantage to having either men's or women's cards, they will dominate the meta, which could see certain cards going unused.
It's exciting times for FC 24 and we can't wait to see what gets announced over the coming months and if the rumours that women will feature in Ultimate Team turn out to be true!