Welcome to the First Frost Update for EA SPORTS FC™ 25. With this update we’re looking to address community feedback around most areas of the game while bringing a fresh layer of strategy and personalization to the game, including:

• New Player Roles and Focuses

• Shorter Rush matches and new Player Items in Ultimate Team

• Career Mode and Clubs updates

• A new winter menu theme

Whether you're preparing for the next big match in Career Mode, competing in Football Ultimate Team, or enjoying the camaraderie in Clubs, our goal with this update is to turn your feedback into changes and have something new for everyone. Let's dive into the details.

Table Of Contents

• Rush Updates Based On Your Feedback

• Gameplay Updates Based On Your Feedback And FC IQ

• Football Ultimate Team

• Career Mode

• Clubs

• Visual Update

Rush Updates Based On Your Feedback

Match Length Decrease In Ultimate Team

We’re decreasing the match length for Rush in Football Ultimate Team from 7 minutes to 5 minutes.

We’ve heard your feedback on some Rush matches feeling like they’re too long, and we’ve seen this reflected in our data as well. In 95% of all seven-minute Rush matches in Football Ultimate Team, the team leading by the 5th minute ended up winning the match. We believe that the decreased match length will make for faster-paced gameplay while still allowing for those rewarding comeback moments.

Improving Idling Detection In Ultimate Team and Clubs

We’ve seen a subset of players engage in undesirable idling behaviour in Rush UT and Clubs matches and heard your feedback about how frustrating this can be.

We’re committed to continuing to improve this space and this update is our first step towards addressing this unwanted behavior. We have improved the system used to detect idling players, which will increase the likelihood of inactive players being kicked from the match.

Players can expect to see warning pop-ups triggered more often for idle behavior, and the systems detecting idle behavior will not reset when the ball goes out of play. Additionally, being in the pause menu will also contribute to players being seen as idle.

Gameplay And FC IQ

Gameplay Updates Based On Your Feedback

To keep gameplay fresh and fun, here are some of the updates we’re introducing based on community feedback:

• Improved defensive logic for tracking runs during Kick Offs.

We’ve seen from the community that kick offs can be too challenging to defend against in certain situations, and with this update we’re looking to improve how defenders track attacking runs that happen right after a kick off. With this update, defenders can track runs deeper, and we’ll continue to closely monitor kick offs and your feedback around them.

• Slightly increased speed and consistency for the Stop And Turn (While Running) Skill Move when performed by 3 Star Skill Move players.

With this change, the intent is to make the Stop And Turn (While Running) feel more authentic when performed by players with a lower Skill Move rating. Previously, it felt a little more sluggish than intended.

• Slightly increased speed of Drag Backs.

• Slightly increased speed and consistency of Jog Fake Shots when performed by 3 Star Skill Move players and above.

Similarly to the previous point, we’ve seen that Drag Backs and Jog Fake Shots could have felt a little slower than intended, so this change aims to make them more useful and satisfying to pull off.

• Improved consistency for the Stop And Turn (While Running), Roulette, Heel To Heel, and Feint and Exit Skill Moves when performed by 2 Star Skill Move players.

We understand that these Skill Moves could have sometimes felt too punishing to perform with 2 Star Skill Move players, so we’ve made them more consistent with the goal of enabling you to play more expressively.

• Slightly increased speed and consistency of Jog Fake Shots when performed by 3 Star Skill Move players and above.

• Slightly decreased the speed of Jog Body Feints.

We’ve seen that Jog Body Feints could have been too hard to read at times, so lowering their speed slightly should maintain their explosiveness while enabling defenders to react appropriately in a more authentic manner.

• Attacking players can now come back to an onside position quicker than before.

The community has expressed that players sometimes stay in offside positions for longer than expected, so this change aims to make attackers more authentic with their offside positioning.

• Slightly increased the window of time in which a Directed Run can be requested.

This change is aimed at making Directed Runs a little more accessible and useful for more players than before.

•  A Player Switch can now be requested during passes while in Player Lock.

This is new functionality based on feedback we continue to receive around Player Lock. We want to ensure that Player Lock remains a useful tool in your arsenal and are making it more flexible with this change.

To view the full list of gameplay changes and issues addressed, check out our full TU #6 notes on the EA SPORTS FC Tracker.

Future Gameplay Updates Based On Your Feedback

We’re also actively investigating several issues we know are of concern to the community, and are working to address them in future updates. That list includes, but is not limited to:

• Scoring on corners

• First time Power Shots

• First time Lobbed Through Passes

• Jog Dribbles

We’ll look to provide an update on these areas when one becomes available.

FC IQ - New Roles And Focuses

We're introducing an expansion to FC IQ Player Roles and several quality of life improvements aimed at enhancing the tactical depth and player experience within FC 25. 

Two new Player Roles have been added: 

• The Classic 10 for the CAM position, a traditional attacking midfielder who is the main hook of attacking play. 

• The Wide Half for the CDM position, a defensive player who covers the sides of the pitch and can help in build-up play.

To further diversify strategic options, thirteen new Focuses have been introduced: 

• Build-Up for various positions 

• Aggressive for center-backs 

• Ball-Winning for holding midfielders 

• Support to improve the versatility of certain Roles

Here is the full list of all new Roles and Focuses:

• CAM - Classic 10

• Focus: Attack, Wide

• CDM - Wide Half

• Focus: Defend, Build-Up

• Focuses

• GK - Sweeper Keeper - Build-Up

• CB - Stopper - Aggressive

• CB - Ball-Playing Defender - Aggressive

• RB/LB - Wingback - Support

• CDM - Holding - Ball-Winning

• CDM - Deep-Lying Playmaker - Build-Up

• CM - Holding - Ball-Winning

• CM - Deep-Lying Playmaker- Build-Up

• RM/LM - Wide Playmaker - Build-Up

• CAM - Playmaker - Build-Up

• RW/LW - Wide Playmaker - Build-Up

• ST - Poacher - Support

• ST - Advanced Forward - Support

To learn more about the new Roles/Focuses in FC IQ, please visit the FC IQ Deep Dive.

Additionally, we're implementing quality of life improvements, such as the ability to toggle between With Ball / Without Ball Views when checking the Tactical Presets screen. These enhancements are part of our ongoing effort to provide tactical updates and improve the overall player experience, with plans to monitor your feedback and adjust accordingly.