EA Play Live, the publisher’s next major showcase event, will take place on July 17th. While Ultimate Team and VOLTA Football may take up a significant portion of that time, there is a strong consensus in the community that it is necessary to provide a watershed moment for another game mode, Career. Those familiar with the series will know that Career Mode is divided into two distinct experiences: Player Career and Manager Mode. With the addition of positional change options to the game’s training features, the return of visual simulations, and a few other minor details on transfers, FIFA 21 remains as robotic as ever. There’s a lot we’d like to see in FIFA 22’s Career Mode, which is expected to get a major overhaul. In this year’s game, it appeared that it was far too easy for casual players to quickly accumulate FIFA Coins and rewards with minimal effort.

FIFA 22’s Career Mode Is Sorely Needed

Co-Op Career Mode in FIFA 22
Friends would be challenged to compete to become the next Pep Guardiola in Co-Op Career. Players in the FIFA Career Mode have been clamoring for a Co-Op Career mode to be added to the games for years now, allowing them to manage different clubs alongside their friends while competing for the highest honors in the game. Unfortunately, this has been a feature in Madden – an EA game – for as long as the game has had Connected Franchises. Furthermore, F1 2021, a game that is now under the control of EA following their acquisition of Codemasters, has introduced Co-Op Career for the first time, only a few months after the publishers took over.

There should be an integration of multiplayer in FIFA 22 – just as there was for FIFA 22 Coins in Ultimate Team. Not only would it be enjoyable for the players, but it would also provide the development team with another opportunity to retain FIFA layers during the slower months of the game (typically after Christmas). It’s also worth noting that EA job advertisements for game designers have previously mentioned “Online Career,” which is a promising sign ahead of the game’s release. It is yet to be determined whether or not this will be the case for FIFA 22.

FIFA 20EA SPORTS features the CONMEBOL team.
Players in FIFA 21 can expect to see more official licenses for South American leagues in the future.
Take a look around at the games that are achieving the best results in the market. Warzone, Fortnite, and Apex Legends are all games that receive regular updates that include new content. To some extent, FIFA games have done this in the past, as evidenced by the introduction of the CONMEBOL and Copa Libertadores competitions, as well as stadiums and player face scans, in FIFA 20. This provided players with yet another reason to return and participate, but, of course, in this case, everything was dependent on licensing agreements.

Instead, they could release bi-monthly updates to help alleviate the slow periods of Ultimate Team content that occur as the year progresses. This could include anything from new animations, celebrations, boots, cutscenes, commentary lines, to team customization. Many of us have visited the same coffee shop a billion times to negotiate the same deal, and we’ve all noticed the same announcement news stories appear on our news feeds.

Search for contract expiration dates with this online tool.
In FIFA 22 Career Mode, knowing which players are nearing the end of their contracts would be ideal.
The implementation of search filters in Ultimate Team for specific card rarities, among other things, was painfully slow. The same is true for your professional life. Contract expiry options are among the most effective methods of elevating your club to the next level, particularly if you are a mid-table club with a limited budget. As time goes on, the cost of players can often outstrip the budget allotted to you by the owners, making this a particularly useful method of acquiring players who have pre-contract expiry agreements and bringing them in for free after the January transfer windows.

If these players appeared on the list of free agents, it is possible that the need for a contract expiry filter will be eliminated. Instead, they are all automatically acquired by the major league clubs. It would be a nice bonus if there was a simple way to track which players are nearing the end of their contracts, rather than having to spend hours scrolling through player by player, league by league, for hours on end.

The Life and Times of a FIFA 22 Player
The Journey, written by Alex Hunter, should have been the beginning of a promising future for a roleplaying player’s career. Player Career hasn’t even been worth mentioning in recent years, implying that PES Become A Legend has been far superior (for those who play Pro Evo). We were once teased with the idea of story integration in Career, though the chances of an NBA 2K-style story experience ended up being The Journey – remember that? Your path had been predetermined as Alex Hunter, with only the most basic of customization options available. In the end, the trilogy project spanned FIFA 17, 18, and then FIFA 19 before being shelved. It may have appeared to be the beginnings of something long-term and narrative-driven at the time, but since the show ended, there has been no further development of it.

In terms of Player Career, there are some lessons to be learned from PES and The Journey in the years that have passed. However, rather than dismissing its existence, there is an opportunity to put together new features that allow for simple narratives via email, selecting brand partners, and the addition of transfer dramas. After 2021’s installment left Player Career players with nothing to eat, there’s no way this installment will be another famine in terms of new features.

Customize the uniforms and stadiums.
You shouldn’t be forced to play in a small stadium for the rest of your career. EA has put together a massive portfolio of licenses so that the community can enjoy realistic scans of their favorite team kits, stadiums, and players. However, there is an element of time and career progression in Career Mode that is not present in the other modes. An option where you could select sponsors and design new kits for each season (even if there were only three pre-made options or templates) would add a more realistic touch to the experience.

Additionally, stadium expansions and facility upgrades to improve the overall performance of your team would be a fantastic addition. The fact that you managed to work your way through the lower divisions with a team like Shrewsbury five years later in a stadium with a capacity of 10,000 people and with the Sky Bet League 1 badge on your kit is incomprehensible. Customizable kits, club buyouts as part of a storyline to improve club facilities, and the option to increase your capacity should all play a significant role in Career Mode. This, however, is not the case.