FIFA 21 Beta: What we Learnt - AI, Career Mode, Ultimate Team, Corners, Stadiums, Packs

After 18 days of testing, the FIFA 21 Beta is now closed.

The Beta offers EA the chance to get feedback on the upcoming title from avid gamers, in order to make sure it's good to go on release day.

Here is what we've learnt about the game from the closed beta.

The Beta isn't the finished article

The first thing worth emphasising is that the beta is not the finished article.

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It focuses on new features and changes in order to gather feedback on what players like, what they don't and what further changes need to be made in order to clean the game up.

The AI has improved

This is something which many FIFA players will be happy to hear.

Up until the latter stages of FIFA 20, for many players, the AI was simply too easy to beat. Ultimate difficulty still didn't seem to be that much of a challenge.

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An update towards the back end of FIFA 20 changed that, making it more competitive in those offline modes such as Career Mode, and EA seems to have followed suit in FIFA 21.

They appear to be better on the ball than before and keep hold of possession well. You'll have to make your chances count if you want to play on the top difficulties this year!

It's possible to score from corners!

After 12 months of corner-related torture, headers are back in FIFA 21!

There is a bigger focus on defending corners on the new game, leave a player unmarked and they will find the back of the net more often than not.

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That's not to say that scoring is easy. You're not going to score from every single corner you get, but if you run your set pieces properly, you will reap the rewards.

Biggest Career Mode update in years

Again it was no secret that EA were making big changes to their Career Mode and it definitely paid off.

The Development Plan System is a much-needed addition, whilst the Interactive Match Sim is a great feature for those who don't want to play every game, but still want to ensure their sides success.

fifa 21 career mode match sim 1
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SIM! The new match sim felt slick in the beta!

Combining these new features with the improved AI means that Career Mode will undoubtedly be a fan favourite when the full game drops.

Minor tweaks to the pack animation

For Ultimate Team players this is a screen that you will see plenty of throughout the FIFA 21 year.

EA has opted to stick with the 'tunnel animation' that they ran with in FIFA 20. There have been a few minor tweaks here and there but for the most part, the animation is pretty similar.

FUT 21 Trophies
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TROPHIES! Stadium trophies can now be found in packs

The flares and boards both still exist, although we are yet to work out the full format for knowing what card type you have got prior to the doors opening.

Customisation is key in Ultimate Team

EA had already announced that you would be able to create your own stadium in FIFA 21 prior to the beta being released, but we've now had chance to test it out for real.

The feature in itself is quite novel. It obviously doesn't have any effect on the way your team performs on the pitch, but it's still a fun little addition nonetheless.

FUT Stadiums Concept 1
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CREATIVITY! You can create your Ultimate stadium in FUT 21!

You can customise pretty much every aspect of your stadium. You are able to choose your own tifos, trophies, chants and themes. Whilst you are also able to increase the capacity of your stadium as you progress through the game.

Plenty of stadium related content can be found in packs, with EA seemingly opting to use these cards to replace the consumables which have been omitted from the upcoming game.

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