Surprise in the “Ultimate Team” mode of FIFA 19: The FUT Online Seasons will no longer exist; they will be replaced by a new mode: Division Rivals in FUT 19.
In the last two FIFA installments, the competitive aspect in FUT has been significantly expanded:
- In FUT 17, FUT Champions was introduced with the Weekend League. Here, the best FIFA players can compete against each other for the best rewards in Ultimate Team.
- In FUT 18, Squad Battles were added, which strengthened the “casual-competitive” aspect. Players can compete against AI opponents, choose their difficulty, earn points, climb leaderboards, and match themselves against other human players.
And in FUT 19, the “traditional” online matches become more competitive: Online Seasons are replaced by Division Rivals. This was announced on August 4th in the EA Sports livestream.
These are the Division Rivals in FIFA 19 Ultimate Team
Here’s how you start in Division Rivals: You select this mode in the FUT menu. Then you play 5 matches, during which your initial skill rating is determined. This can be understood as a first selection based on which you are then placed in a division (a league).
How do the Division Rivals work? There are 10 leagues in total, where you can rise based on your skill rating. The skill rating increases (or decreases) only slowly, so you need to maintain your rank in a league for a while to be able to leave it.
Weekly Competition: Each week, you can try to climb the ranks within your league. There are 5 ranks per league. Each week, you play only against other human opponents who are in your league. If you are among the top 20% of players in your league at the end of the week, you achieve Rank 1.
Rewards are rank-dependent: Depending on whether you are Rank 1 or Rank 5, you will receive better or worse rewards. The weekly rewards are such that you receive multiple prizes to choose from. These can be coins, packs, or even a Weekend League qualification. You can select the reward of your choice:
How do Division Rivals fit in with Weekend League?
Wait, who is supposed to be able to play Weekend League and Division Rivals simultaneously? Those who are already worried about how to free up so much time to be successful in Division Rivals and to play 40 games in Weekend League can breathe easy: All games in Weekend League also count towards Division Rivals. The two modes do not conflict, so you do not have to choose between them.
You qualify for Weekend League through Division Rivals. There are no more knockout tournaments. For each game in Division Rivals, you earn not only skill rating points to rise in the league but also Weekend League points. With enough points, you can buy a Weekend League access pass. You can use this on any weekend – it doesn’t have to be the upcoming weekend.
And are the Online Seasons as we previously knew them no longer available? Yes.
No further information about Division Rivals is available yet. We will see how the skill rating allocation and how relegations and promotions in the leagues work at the latest by the release of FIFA 19 on September 28, 2018. If you pre-order the right edition, you can start playing as early as September 25:
