Ultimate Team is arguably FIFA’s most popular mode. There’s something about opening packs to build a star-studded team to take on other players that’s extremely absorbing and never fails to get old. Of course, each year EA Sports tries to improve the mode to keep fans coming back to this popular destination, best known as FUT. We recently discovered more about the new features in store for FIFA 21. Here’s what we found most promising.
It Features Online Cooperative Play For The First Time
Ever wanted your friends to join in on the action? FUT will let you do just that. You can play 2v2, head to head, or partner with a friend against the A.I. The FUT menus will now feature a “friends hub” to make playing with friends easy. Here, you can see if your friend is currently in a match and toss an invite to a session. Once accepted, they’ll hit the lobby, where you can choose to participate in squad battles, division rivals, or friendlies. Choosing squad battles or division rivals will allow both players to earn progression and weekly score for their club based on the result, meaning no one needs to sacrifice their own progression to play with a friend. If you want a risk-free way to play with others and work on strategies, friendlies is the mode you want.
To create meaningful progression, co-op objectives are being introduced, so you can support your FUT club this way. Some objectives will have to be completed exclusively in a co-op match to earn the extra XP. Don’t worry, there will also be additional objectives that can be completed solo or in a co-op game, so you’ll have plenty of ways to progress.
New FUT Events Include Community And Team Objectives
When people work together good things happen, right? EA Sports is always introducing more ways for players to collaboratively unlock rewards. Community events will have different tiers for rewards, as you help the community move through these different milestones and unlock better perks. As players complete specific in-game objectives, the contributing XP is counted toward all players in the community.
In addition to community events, there will also be team events where you pick your side and unlock rewards that way. EA Sports said this will start with selecting one of five teams to align with. For an example, you might pick your faction based on the Premier League’s big guns, like picking Chelsea or Liverpool. Once you pick a team, you get an in-game objective group, which can range from getting a certain amount of assists or wins, and each one you complete earns XP for you and your team. The result of the event will determine which teams are rewarded and what rewards they earn, whether it be packs, players, coins, or customization options. Your rewards can then be used to grow or customize your clubs and show off your participation in the event and proudly announce the teams you backed.
Better Player Onboarding For Online Play
Feeling like you want to make the jump to online, but afraid to be overmatched? To ensure players, especially those taking their game online for the first time, get paired accordingly, FIFA 21 has a new way to do your placements for division rivals through squad battles. According to EA, over the course of your first 20-40 games, squad battles will continually access your skill and start to calculate your approximate online skill based on the way you’re playing the game. When those games are completed, players will automatically get placed inside a division that feels better suited for their skills.
FUT Stadiums Give You More Ways To Customize
For FIFA 21, the FUT stadium is a welcome addition and looks to be a big way to build your own identity in this mode. This feature goes beyond the stadium themes we saw in the past. Your stadium will grow with your club and offer up plenty of ways for you to alter its look, from the stadium lights to the trees and other landscape features. As you play, you earn upgraded stadiums, which give you even more customization options and increase the capacity for fans to really help sell your growing popularity. Expect to be able to alter everything from seat colors to banners to even how you display the trophies you earn within it.
Final Thoughts…
In addition to what we discussed above, FUT has a lot of other great tweaks for FIFA 21, such as reworked menus for easier access, streamlined team management by removing fitness and training from the mode entirely, and adding new icons to the roster like Eric Cantona and Philipp Lahm. Also, if you start FUT on your current console and then purchase a new-gen console, you are ensured that your progress will carry over. So far it looks like EA Sports is continually finding ways to keep this a social experience and providing reasons to keep you coming back, which all sounds pretty great to us. You can watch the in-depth video above to see these changes in action.
What has you most excited for FUT 21? Let us know in the comments below!
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