EA Sports FC 27 arrives with the familiar challenge of convincing players that this year’s football game deserves their time and attention. This time, the focus is on The Grounds, a new social hub that attempts to give the series a sense of place beyond the traditional menus, matches, and Ultimate Team grind.
Unlike some of the more superficial additions seen in prior instalments, The Grounds genuinely changes how the game feels. It’s essentially a compact open-world football village divided into three districts inspired by Argentina, France and Britain. The open world isn’t enormous, nor does it pretend to be. Instead, it functions as a social hub where the community can meet, customize their characters, take part in activities, and play football. Murals, graffiti, football trivia, and references to legendary players give the area considerably more personality than one might expect. It feels like EA has tried to capture the culture surrounding football rather than just the professional sport itself.
You can play 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, Rush and 11v11 matches, alongside a collection of deliberately silly mini-games. Some are more entertaining than others, but the best of them capture a pleasant FIFA Street-like spirit. They are particularly enjoyable with friends and provide a welcome diversion from competitive Ultimate Team.
Rather than treating Clubs as an isolated mode in the main menu, EA has made it part of The Grounds’ ecosystem. Your created player develops as you participate in activities and matches, earning experience and attribute points that allow you to shape your preferred Archetype.
There are some rough edges, however. Movement around The Grounds can feel awkward, some activities are little more than distractions, and the area is not nearly as interactive as a traditional open-world game. That said, it works well as a social football playground. However, it remains to be seen whether EA can continue expanding it with meaningful content.
Outside of The Grounds, the basic football remains familiar in FC 27, but several aspects have been refined. AI defenders are now less likely to abandon their positions or make inexplicable movements. The game puts more responsibility on the player, reducing the extent to which the AI automatically solves defensive situations. Goalkeepers have also become more reliable. Long-range efforts are less of a guaranteed source of cheap goals, while positioning and reactions generally feel more convincing.
The ball itself feels less magnetically attached to players and more willing to bounce, ricochet, and roll into unpredictable spaces. Tackles produce less frustrating pinball-like sequences, while physical battles for possession feel more meaningful. This has a knock-on effect on attacking play. Strong attackers can use their bodies more effectively, while defenders can move laterally to block an opponent’s path. The outcome is a football game that can create more organic moments rather than sequences that feel entirely predetermined.
Set pieces have also been given more depth. Crosses are less automatically directed toward a particular teammate and instead target an area, making positioning and timing more important. Corners give players additional control over the eventual receiver, creating greater scope for clever movement. On the other hand, certain gameplay elements remain heavily reliant on automation in close-range scenarios, such as tight 1v1 box situations, box scrambles, and dense midfield pressing.
The Competitive mode is fast-paced, which some will enjoy while others will find excessive. Through-ball and pace remain exploitative, much like in FC 26, particularly in matches involving elite teams. Additionally, the Authentic gameplay mode introduced in the prior entry is expanded in FC 27 with many more customization sliders, providing a slower and more simulation-based alternative to the Competitive mode, with environmental effects such as weather and pitch conditions affecting gameplay. It is arguably closer to the realistic football experience some would prefer, and it also tackles through-ball and pace exploitation.
Career Mode hasn’t received an overhaul on the scale of The Grounds, but it benefits from several worthwhile improvements. The changes mainly affect transfers and player management. Negotiations are more dynamic, while scouting provides a broader picture of a player’s potential market value. Clubs competing for the same player can influence negotiations, meaning managers have to pay more attention to the wider transfer market instead of simply meeting a predetermined asking price.
Player form, fitness and condition also have greater consequences. A player’s performances and physical state can affect their attributes, making squad management more meaningful. While these refinements don’t transform Career Mode, they do make it feel closer to managing a football club versus simply assembling a squad and simulating matches.
The basic Ultimate Team formula remains compelling, where you build a squad, complete objectives, earn rewards, experiment with chemistry and Evolutions, and gradually improve your team. That said, it’s still essentially the same loop it has been for years, while the menus have become increasingly complicated, with layers of submenus that can make navigating the mode needlessly cumbersome.
Then, there’s the problematic handling of microtransactions. FC Points remain deeply integrated into Ultimate Team, while monetization also reaches into The Grounds through boosts and other progression-enhancing items. This is troublesome because The Grounds’ Archetype system can make progression feel slower if you are unwilling to spend additional money, as the power curve and level scaling have been designed to incentivize the purchase of shortcuts.
Ultimately, EA Sports FC 27 doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Much of the structure, content, and philosophy will be very familiar to those who have played recent entries. However, it does refine the football and expand the social side of the experience. It’s also a game that clearly wants to keep you engaged and spending, for as long as possible.
EA Sports FC 27 Game Information
- Price: $69.99
- Publisher: EA Sports
- Developer: EA Vancouver / EA Romania
- Platform: PS5 (Reviewed)
- Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher
