In EA FC 25, a major Title Update has been released. The changes could lead to significantly more goals, especially in offense. A well-known streamer from the USA also experienced this. On MeinMMO, you can learn about his first impressions and read about the most important innovations.
What kind of update is this? The latest update has been dubbed “Gameplay Refresh” by EA. The developer company refers to this update as the most comprehensive gameplay overhaul ever made mid-season.
The changes primarily affect 5 aspects:
- Core elements of gameplay such as passing, shooting, defending, and goalkeeping have been improved.
- Smoother offensive play with easier ball control.
- Issue resolved where strikers were too often caught up by slower defenders.
- Tacklebacks (bouncebacks) and AI defense have been weakened.
- The player search for Rush has been revised.
When does the update come out? The patch is now available for download. On the PlayStation 5, it has a size of 1.39 GB. You can expect a similar size on all other platforms.
Streamer shows strong shots on goal and fast strikers
What are the key changes? The decisive innovations can be found in offense.
First, shots on goal from inside the penalty area have been significantly improved. In promising positions, your strikers, provided they have strong shooting stats, are very reliable in their finishes. It doesn’t matter what type of shots you choose when finishing.
Second, players with high acceleration and speed values can finally showcase their strength again. Too often, attackers who had much more speed than the defender were caught up by the defenders.
This is now over. Players who can gain an advantage through their higher speed will now be caught up by defenders much more slowly.
Which streamer tested the update? The American streamer and content creator “nickrtfm” assured himself of the promises made by the Gameplay Refresh update. At the launch of FC 25, he was very critical of the gameplay mechanics.
Now, after the patch, he clearly had more fun with the gameplay in Division Rivals and in the qualification for the Weekend League, even mentioning a feeling that he was suddenly playing a different EA FC part after the patch.
In line with this, he titled his test video of the new patch “Bye Bye FC 25, Hello FC 25.5”. In the video, you can get an impression of the offensive changes from the new update based on the numerous goals scored by the streamer:
More important changes summarized
As it is a very extensive update, we will summarize the most important changes for you below. You can find all the new details in this Trello for the Gameplay Refresh Update from EA Sports.
Gameplay
- Improved positioning and support of AI teammates during attacks
- Better timing for runs near the offside line.
- Effectiveness of player roles (particularly Target Man and Center Forward) increased.
- Better teamwork and smarter coordination among individual offensive players.
- The occurrence of tacklebacks (successful tackles where the striker still retained ball possession) has been reduced
- Especially for players with the Defensive PlayStyle Anticipation.
- The quality of tackles from defenders has generally been increased.
- Goalkeeper saves on shots from sharp angles (at the near post) have been improved.
- The speed and accuracy of ground passes have been increased.
- The effectiveness of through balls with semi-assistance has been greatly increased.
- The effectiveness of directly laid high through balls has been greatly reduced.
- The accuracy of header passes in contested situations has been reduced.
- Various issues with passes regarding pass power and recipients have been revised.
- AI defense weakened
- AI defenders maintain more distance when covering players and shots.
- AI defenders intercept fewer balls.
- Counter-protection after corners has been increased.
- Defensive awareness for the player role Wing/Balance has been increased.
- Full-backs in the Falseback role return to their position faster.
Further video material on some changes can be found on EA’s info page for the Gameplay Refresh.
Rush
- Searching for player items is now adapted to the corresponding requirements for Rush bonus points, meaning that when requiring players from a league or nation, you will receive 5 suitable options from your club.
Ultimate Team
- Navigation errors (control only possible to the left) in the club and in SBCs have been fixed.
Career Mode
- Bug where the AI goalkeeper sent the ball out of play has been resolved.
- Errors in the implementation of certain tactics and player roles have been addressed.
- Display errors in Manager Career have been fixed.
Clubs
- Bug where the player received restrictions due to height has been fixed.
General, Audio and Visual
- Clothing, kits, and equipment have been adjusted.
- 125 game faces have been updated.
Now you have a glance at the most important changes in the latest update. It seems that players can look forward to many goal-rich matches for Team of the Year. You can also read all the information about the start and duration of the TOTY in EA FC 25 on MeinMMO.
