FIFA 21: Pre-Season shows time has come for EA to go for seasonal updates

With EA’s Pre-Season promo enabling players to earn rewards for FIFA 21, is it a sign of things to come?

Whisperings of a subscription model have appeared on forums, so let’s check out how it could work.

Pre-Season

FIFA 20 Ultimate Team’s latest promo event has got everyone talking.

It is the first chance FIFA players have to earn rewards for the upcoming release of FIFA 21.

Rewards to get ahead in FUT 21 like packs, loan players and consumables are all up for grabs throughout the event.

But does this event show the need for EA to move to a subscription model for the likes of FIFA?

Seasonal Updates

Currently, EA have to spend time developing a new FIFA game each year.

With a subscription model, EA could focus on regular updates to bring FIFA to its full potential.

GROUNDBREAKER! Fortnite's regular updates keep the game fresh

Games like Fortnite carry out regular updates throughout without developing a completely new game, so it is possible.

However, a continuous subscription model would bring with it some difficulties.

Ultimate Team

How would Ultimate Team work if it does not reset on each new game?

By the end of each season, most teams are packed out with top-rated players rendering most basic cards useless.

READ MORE: FIFA 21 Career Mode – Everything we know so far

Players would also become outdated too, so a limit would have to be made on when these players can be used.

EA could obviously reset squads once a year as is the case now, but would this feel right with people using real money in-game?

Career Mode

A subscription model could massively benefit Career Mode with regular updates keeping it fresh.

There would be no excuse for repetitive interviews and interactions as they could be updated constantly.

UPDATE! Regular updates would make these scenes less repetitive

However, with regular updates we may see certain features added to the game that hinder the game mode.

For example, any feature currently in the game, such as player training, would be difficult to remove after using it for several seasons.

Next Gen

By now we all know the PS5 and Xbox Series X are on their way.

One significant feature of the PS5 is you can purchase one without a disc drive.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about FIFA 21

Without a need for physical discs, the way could be paved for subscriptions to become the norm.

For yearly games like FIFA and Madden, this is certainly a possibility.

PES

Konami have tested the waters in a sense.

PES 2021 will be a season update rather than a brand-new game, although this is because they are putting all their efforts into PES 2022.

NEW IDEAS! Could this become the norm

What updates we see remains unknown, but we would expect some minor adjustments, and of course team, kit, and player updates too.

We don’t expect a massive update to PES 2020, however we would still like to see significant improvements, after all we are paying for it!

Verdict

It certainly has its benefits.

Without having to develop a brand-new game, EA could bring out regular updates to really make the best game possible.

A subscription model with monthly or annual payment could take FIFA to new levels with EA not having to worry about selling their next game.

We can’t say for sure whether this will happen or not, but it is an exciting proposition.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about FIFA 21 Ultimate Team