So, here we are in 2026, and the latest edition of EA Sports FC has landed with all the fanfare of a slightly deflated party balloon. A new era, they said. It feels about as new as my granddad's favorite pair of slippers – comfortable, familiar, and showing every sign of the miles put on them in the last decade. I'm perpetually caught in this weird limbo; part of me accepts that this is the perfect game for the live-service treadmill, constantly updated and tweaked. The other part, the cynical old git part, just sighs and wonders why I'm about to spend another hundred hours doing the exact same things. A live-service model might offer better value, but let's be real, it would just be a laser-focused shrine to Ultimate Team, and since EA seems to have forgotten other modes exist, would I even notice the difference?

There's More To Life (And EA FC) Than FUT 🎮

I'm an endangered species in the EA FC ecosystem, a mythical creature whispered about in forums: the player who doesn't touch Ultimate Team. If my copy comes with free packs, I'll crack them open like a disappointing Christmas cracker, shrug at the contents, and never return. It's not that I'm opposed to novelty – I gave Volta a fair shot, but finding an online match was as likely as finding a sensible take on social media. Rush is actually a brilliant, hyper-charged bit of fun. I just find FUT to be a beautifully rendered hamster wheel. All those players are already in the game! Why grind or pay to assemble a team I can just... pick in other modes? So, my digital home is, and always has been, Career Mode and Seasons. For better or worse, it's my annual pilgrimage.

My Career Mode save is a cozy, predictable ritual. It's like rewatching your favorite comfort-food movie. Sean Longstaff and Miguel Almiron, my loyal digital soldiers, once again get a heartfelt farewell video. The Marc Guéhi deal is finally done. And for the sheer, petty joy of it, I've raided the league for Morgan Gibbs-White and Kaoru Mitoma. Hello, hello, we are the Geordie boys! This is my zen garden. For 'realism', I turn the difficulty up against the so-called 'Big Six' (let's be honest, Tottenham doesn't count), but mostly it's a chill, solitary pursuit of building the perfect Newcastle squad, culminating in Bruno Guimarães lifting a trophy for the Toon. It's as soothing as a warm cup of tea.

But I'm not a complete hermit. Sometimes, the peaceful hum of Career Mode isn't enough. Sometimes, you need the raw, unfiltered adrenaline of beating another human being. You want to feel the virtual sweat, hear the distant, rage-induced smash of a controller through the headset. You need Joelinton to thunder a 30-yarder into the top corner against a real person, a thrill that even the CPU's hilariously angry Mikel Arteta (shouting pixelated obscenities at the 4th official) can't provide. This is where the masses flock to Ultimate Team, opening their wallets wider than a goalkeeper's arms on a penalty. Not me. I head to Seasons. And lately, it feels like that door is slowly being welded shut.

Seasons: The Mode That Forgot How to Season 🌐

The premise of Seasons is beautifully simple and should be the game's great equalizer. You pick a real-life team, with its current, imperfect squad – yes, that means Newcastle without my newly signed Marc Guéhi – and you get matched against another human doing the same. No cards, no microtransactions, just pure football. There's a ladder system to climb, promoting you or relegating you based on wins, which acts as a skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) system. Crucially, with 'restrictive matchmaking' turned on, you're supposed to face teams of a similar star rating. It's a system designed for variety and fairness. The problem? It's as broken as a promises made by a politician.

This shouldn't be a shock. It's been broken since at least EA FC 24. In 2026, the experience is monotonous. No matter who I choose – be it my beloved four-and-a-half-star Newcastle, a plucky two-star Wrexham, or anyone in between – the matchmaking screen spins and lands on the same destination: a five-star team. Usually, it's Manchester City or Real Madrid, who have now fully dethroned PSG as the boring, default choice for players who think tactical nuance is as confusing as advanced astrophysics.

I've conducted experiments that would make a scientist weep:

Team I Picked Star Rating Team I Faced Likelihood
Newcastle United ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ Man City / Real Madrid 95%
West Ham United ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Man City / Real Madrid 90%
FC Porto ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Man City / Real Madrid 85%
Wrexham AFC ⭐⭐ Man City / Real Madrid 80% (I wish I was joking)

Restrictive matchmaking? Activated. Functioning? As useful as a chocolate teapot.

I don't think the algorithm is forcing five-star matches. I suspect it's just throwing darts blindfolded. But because the vast majority of the player base, trapped in this very cycle, only picks five-star teams to compete, the 'random' result is almost always Man City or Real Madrid. This creates a death spiral:

  1. New player tries a 4-star team.

  2. Gets matched with 5-star City.

  3. Gets annihilated.

  4. Thinks, "I need a 5-star team to compete."

  5. The pool of 5-star users grows. ✅

  6. The cycle repeats. 🔄

It completely strips away what makes Seasons special. Ultimate Team has its ever-shifting 'meta' – a list of must-have players that changes every few weeks. Seasons should be a wild safari of different tactical landscapes. Each team is a unique puzzle with its own strengths and flaws, a philosophy perfectly summed up by Rafa Benitez's famous quote: "Football is a short blanket. If you cover your head, your feet get cold." You can't have everything. Facing a diverse range of teams and skill levels should open up a universe of possibilities, a stark contrast to the controlled, predictable world of Career Mode.

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Instead, the entire mode has been reduced to a binary, soul-crushing exam: "Do you know how to play as Man City or Real Madrid? Do you know how to stop Man City or Real Madrid?" That's it. Master that, and you've conquered Seasons. Congratulations. The mode has gone from being a sprawling footballing continent to a single, well-trodden path between the Etihad and the Bernabéu. It's like having access to a world-class library but only ever reading the same two instruction manuals for luxury appliances you don't own.

Higher-skilled players will still win, and there's a perverse pleasure in trying to dismantle City's defensive AI, which moves like a perfectly synchronized swarm of bees, or outpacing Real's attacking wealth, which flows forward like a golden tsunami. But it's a shallow pleasure. Seasons should be the most expansive, accessible, and varied online mode in EA FC. In 2026, it remains the most restrictive, repetitive, and frankly, neglected. And from where I'm sitting, curled up with my Career Mode save, it doesn't look like changes are coming any time soon. It's just the same old, same old.