The EA Sports FC franchise has been experiencing a slow decline, with the game's sales allegedly decreasing since 2023 when the game was still titled FIFA. While the number of units sold is stil impressive, it's rumored that it has slightly decreased in the past three years, according to multiple sources.
Just one month after its release date, the FC 25 Ultimate Edition is on a 60% discount, which is surprising, to say the least, and has left fans wondering if the game is not selling that well.
This is just one of the reasons that showcases how the franchise has hit rock bottom. So let's find out the others.
One of the Worst EA Sports FC Games Ever
FC 25 is one of the lowest-rated games in the franchise's history, with a 1.9 Google rating and a 2.7 user score on Metacritic. So it's safe to say the players aren't enjoying FC 25, and they have good reasons not to.
The passing is abysmal, FC IQ isn't the revolutionary feature that was promised, Rush is a great game mode but is plagued by many issues, five-at-the-back formations are back and completely ruin the joy of the game, and there is a huge cheaters problem on PC.
Furthermore, Career mode still needs a big revamp, as while the mode received some changes this year, it stil delivers a dull experience that makes it hard for players to fully immerse into.
An Ocean of Bugs
As if all the problems above weren't enough to make FC 25 a hard game to enjoy, and that's putting it lightly, the title is riddled with bugs that significantly impact the gameplay experience.
From scoring a free-kick and not being counted as a goal but instead getting rewarded with a corner kick, to players passing the "invisible barrier" to stop opponents from taking a free-kick, and many others, FC 25 has a plethora of game-breaking bugs.
PC players have it the worst, as cheaters make it almost impossible to play Weekend League, disconnecting players as soon as they enter the game, getting the win without even playing, and going 15-0 effortlessly.
Because of this, they get the best rewards possible, which allows them to buy the best cards in the game, making the card's prices skyrocket. This hurts the casual player base, especially the no-money-spent players, as it makes it almost impossible for them to buy the best cards in the game.
Many of the best rare cards in FC 25, such as Kylian Mbappé, are extinct, while others like Yaya Touré cost more than double their console price on PC.
An Awful Game for Casual Players
FC 25 is not a game for casual players, and the main problem isn't even its competitive aspect. FUT Champions is and should be a mode where only the best of the best compete, as it's the most competitive mode in FC 25.
The problem is that be it in FUT Champions, Rivals, or even Squad Battles, the rewards players get are awful, especially when taking into account the time and effort they put into getting them.
For casual players, it's discouraging to put plenty of time and effort into getting good rewards, and then pull 84 OVR cards that aren't even worth 5k coins, or an 86 OVR walkout that is worth 7k coins at best, if it isn't untreadable.
This makes it harder for casual players to be competitive, as most don't spend money in the game, and don't know how to trade, nor have the time to do it.
Players who simply want to pick up their controller, compete in Rivals and FUT Champions, and improve their team from the rewards they get are at a huge disadvantage.
New promos are coming out almost weekly, with incredibly expensive players, that 90% of casual users can only get if they spend money in FC Points. However, most casual players don't want to spend money on FC Points, so they get locked out of these cards.
Casual players find themselves stuck in the loop of playing well to secure great rewards, getting rewards, not packing any great players from said rewards, not being able to upgrade their team, and starting the cycle again. Fooder is also harder to get this year, so even completing good SBCs has become harder for casual players.
All of this makes it so that casual players get fatigued from the game pretty quickly, and either stop playing Ultimate Team completely or just play it sporadically.
Alienating your casual player base is not a good idea, but it's what is happening in FC 25, and what's been happening in the EA Sports FC franchise for quite some time. But there is a good reason why that doesn't seem to trouble EA Sports.
It's Bad, It's Afwull, But It's Profitable!
Despite everything that was mentioned above, the EA Sports FC franchise profit continues to grow year after year.
The game isn't great, and the physical copies sold have decreased, but every edition of the EA Sports FC franchise is more profitable than the previous one, and by a considerable margin.
Microtransactions are the main reason for that, with more and more FC Points being acquired each year. The EA Sports FC community's general feeling towards FC Points is one of dislike. Because of that, it's possible that the number of players who acquire FC Points hasn't increased, at least not substantially, but the amount of FC Points each player buys has.
One thing is certain, FC Points are in some way, shape, or form, connected with the decline of the EA Sports FC franchise. That's because, despite delivering a worse product year after year, the game continues to achieve record profits, and from a business standpoint, that must mean things are being done correctly.
This is somewhat worrying, as it probably means that EA Sports won't see the need to make huge changes to the title, such as introducing a new game engine or making big gameplay changes.
Because of that, we will likely get the same product, with just a new layer of paint, year after year, with the profits increasing, but the player base declining. Hopefully, that's not the case, and EA Sports listens to the community concerns, and more importantly, addresses them.
After all, it's a win-win scenario for everyone if EA Sports delivers a great football game. Players win because they get to play a great football game, which is what they want, and the company wins because it increases it's profit margins.
Only time will tell if that's going to happen. For now, the best we can do is try our best to make our concerns heard and try to enjoy this "simulation" football game in the best way possible.