EA Sports FC 25 kicks off this week, these are the best pre-order deals

Footy fans, rejoice. The next instalment in EA’s long-running football game franchise is very nearly here. In fact, anyone who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition of the game is already playing EA Sports FC 25 (formerly Fifa) right now as part of the early access period.

FC 25 has a lot going for it, with changes to Ultimate Team, new gameplay modes and tactical tweaks making this EA’s biggest release yet. The cover features England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham, who takes over the mantle from FC 24’s Erling Haaland, making him EA’s youngest cover star at just 21 years old.

FC 24 was the second biggest game launch in 2023 in terms of sales after The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and FC 25 is expected to follow in its footsteps, despite Fifa reportedly working with Take-Two on its own Fifa game.

Officially launching on 27 September, FC 25 is available to play now for anyone who pre-orders the Ultimate Edition of the game. We’ve rounded up everything you need to know about FC 25, from all the pre-order bonuses to new features to gameplay and more.

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As with every Fifa release, EA throws in bonuses with every pre-order of FC 25, including the standard edition of the game. Every pre-order comes with the base game, a Jude Bellingham loan player item for 10 matches, an ambassador loan item for 10 matches, a Club PlayStyles slot, extra personality points and three icons in Player Career mode and a five-star coach and five-star youth scout in Manager Career mode. You also get 250,000 Clubs coins. Phew!

The game is available on PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S and the Nintendo Switch. Amazon and The Game Collection currently have the best deals.

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If you part with a little more cash and pre-order the Ultimate Edition of EA Sports FC 25, you’ll get the game seven days earlier than everyone else, starting on 20 September. The one notable difference between the Ultimate Edition and Standard Edition is that those who opt for the Ultimate Edition gain access to FC 25’s Ultimate Team campaign mode.

You’ll also gain access to a few extra bonuses to kickstart your FC 25 journey. As well as dual entitlement, letting you upgrade your copy from PS4/Xbox One to PS5/Xbox Series X/S for free and the bonuses from the standard edition, you’ll also get 4,600 FC Points (3,850 for Nintendo Switch).

In terms of items and bonuses, you’ll also get an untradable Ultimate Team Origin Hero player that will be automatically upgraded to a Prime version on 28 November, an untradable Ultimate Team Greats of the Game Icon or Greats of the Game Hero player in FC 24, an Ultimate Team Player Evolutions Slot and double bonus points in FC 25’s new game mode Rush. You also get a season 1 ladder progress and Rush rewards in Ultimate Team and Clubs. Those are a lot more pre-order bonuses than FC 24.

Amazon, ShopTo and CDKeys have the best deals available for the Ultimate Edition of FC 25 available to pre-order for Xbox and PC. PS5 gamers will have to pre-order the game from the PlayStation Store. Switch gamers can pre-order the Standard Edition, but they’ll still gain access to Ultimate Team and the Ultimate Edition pre-order bonuses.

This may be the biggest shake-up to EA’s football franchise in a long, long time. This isn’t just the same game with players donning new kits. From a new game mode and a new FC IQ system to new player roles and better tactical options, there’s a lot that EA’s packed in.

The new game mode Rush seems to be the big highlight feature. Replacing Volta, it’s a five-a-side system where you can play using real-world players. Integrated into all game modes, including Career Mode, Ultimate Team and Kick Off, players race to the ball as a kick-off. Players can get a blue card in Rush, which sends them to a sin-bin for a whole minute – a big deal when you’ve only got five players on a team.

Tactics have been completely rewritten for FC 25. With FC IQ, you get greater strategic control across the game, letting you give specific instructions to players on and off the ball. There are 50 new player roles, so you can give really specific behaviours to each player on your team off the ball, asking them to focus on attacking and roaming rather than defending. That does mean that the old Work Rate system has been removed. If it all sounds too much, smart tactics will also pop up for you to select in-game.

You’ll stay inside the action more as well, with in-game subs taking place without having to dive into multiple menus and pause play.

You can jump into Career Mode at any point in the season now, with points and injuries being reflected up until that week in the season. The women's game will also be available to play in Career Mode for the first time. Interestingly, it’s reflective of real life, meaning you won’t have as big a budget to spend on players. Youth tournaments are also coming to Career Mode. Happening every two months, you can take control of youth players and develop them.

Icons are also coming to Career Mode, letting you play as David Beckham, Thierry Henry and more football legends.

And probably the most exciting feature (for us, anyway) is that, yes, legendary Italian sports journalist Fabrizio Romano is in the game in Career Mode, providing transfer news and updates. EA says more sports media will be added, so let’s hope we see our very own Miguel Delaney in the game.

EA has built a clubhouse for your club, letting your avatars socialise in one area. You can also allocate a budget to Facilities cards, meaning you can upgrade certain portions of your player’s qualities. Clubs can also be relegated now, so you can fall down a league if you aren’t performing well.

EA Sports FC 25 will be playable on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. As with last year, this year’s Switch version is available in a full non-legacy format, with the same Frostbite engine, the same Rush modes and the same tactics. You’ll only miss out on HyperMotion and cross-platform play. Win!

FC 25 is playable cross-platform between Xbox gamers, PS5 gamers and PC gamers, but Switch gamers will only be able to play against their mates, who are also using a Nintendo Switch.

Anyone who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition of the game were able to start playing FC 25 from midnight on Friday 20 September on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. For those who’ve pre-order the standard edition on the Nintendo Switch, early access began at the exact same time.

Want to game in comfort? Have a read of our guide to the best gaming chairs