EA Sports FC 26 Switch 2 review

If you’re a soccer fan, every September means one thing and one thing only – a new EA Sports FC game, or as your dad likes to call it, FIFA. This is the third installment in the series since EA Sports fell out with FIFA, but more importantly, it’s the first to release after the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2. Now, I’m old enough to remember when FIFA 18 launched on Nintendo Switch, and that did not go well. So, I didn’t set my expectations too high for this launch, but fortunately, EA Sports FC 26 has surprised me in almost all the right ways.

One big change for FC 26 is that there are now two different ways to play: Competitive or Authentic. Authentic, as you can likely imagine, is closer to the real-life game, with slower movement and an emphasis on tactics, while Competitive is a bit more of what you’re used to, a sort of arcade-style soccer that allows for frenetic styles of play and massive scorelines. I’ve given both a go, and for the sort of FC fan I am – the sort that should probably be playing Football Manager but doesn’t have the patience – I’m really enjoying the authentic style. It really delivers on the promise of putting tactics at the forefront, and I’m taking great joy from watching my high-pressure, high-line team go for broke in every match.

Another new feature for this iteration is the Live Manager Challenge mode. I’m one of the many who have looked scornfully at the game’s Ultimate Team over the last few years, with EA pouring its efforts into expanding the game mode while Career mode grew stagnant. That’s not the case this year, with Live Manager Challenges adding a breath of fresh air by presenting you with specific scenarios to jump into. The first challenge I tried put me in charge of Atlético Madrid on a drive to knock local rivals Real Madrid off the top of the table, and I had a great time doing my best Simeone impression, playing ultra-defensive football, and taking home the title.

Outside of Live Manager Challenge, Career mode also benefits from the addition of Unexpected Events and the Manager Market. Unexpected Events, are, well, unexpected events – no prizes for guessing that one – and while they’re often not beneficial, they add a depth to the gameplay that makes it feel a little more real. Remember when your side lost their star striker three games into a season? Now you get to not only feel that pain again but also take responsibility for solving the problem before you get on the wrong side of the board. The Manager Market also helps to keep you engaged in Career mode for more than a season, as it enables teams to swap managers or develop different styles of play based on the head coach.

Now, onto the performance, and good news, folks, it’s not half bad. This is where things really went wrong for FIFA 18 on the original Switch, and they didn’t get all that much better until around the time of FC 24, so it’s a relief that the first Nintendo Switch 2 EA Sports soccer simulator hits the target performance-wise, at least on the pitch. Things can get a touch dicey in the menus, and this is an FC game, so there are a lot of menus, but I never experienced a proper crash, despite some reports of crashes online.

The one thing to mention on the performance front is that FC 26 is sadly locked to 30 FPS, which is completely fine, so long as you don’t play it on another console at 60 FPS. If you do that, the Switch 2 version feels a little jarring to get used to again, but after a couple of Career Mode games, your eyes should adjust once more. Personally, I’ll take 30 FPS if it means more reliable in-game performance, but you might feel differently.

As for the graphics, well, they’re better than what I’d anticipated. The last FC game I played was FC 24 on the original Switch, and while it was an improvement on what came before, it still looked noticeably worse than versions on other consoles. FC 26 on Switch 2 shortens the graphical gap somewhat, though not entirely, and both players and managers look like their real-life counterparts. There are still some dicey moments, but you always had that with FIFA, so it’s not a surprise to see it in an FC game too.

At this point, you might be wondering why I haven’t given FC 26 a better score, after all, it’s been mostly positives so far. Well, if you’ve any experience playing almost any EA game in the last decade or so, you can probably guess what I’m about to touch on next. Yes, we’re talking microtransactions. FC 26 is full of them, and boy oh boy does it want you to spend.

Fortunately, I’m a bit too old school and scared of spending money to have ever really engaged with Ultimate Team all that much. As I’ve made pretty clear, I’m a Career Mode guy, and I’ll die a Career Mode guy. However, I’m very aware that for a lot of FC fans younger than me, Ultimate Team is everything. If you’re reading this and that applies to you, get ready for another year of either endless grinding for points or spending your hard-earned money in the in-game loot box lottery, and it’s going to be trickier than before, with seemingly fewer rewards for those unwilling to pick up the premium season pass. The core online experience is still pretty fun; it’s just that if you want your team to be the best, there’s a price to pay.

The microtransactions wouldn’t feel so egregious if it weren’t for the fact that the Switch 2 version of FC 26 doesn’t share a FUT transfer market with other versions of the game, which means there are fewer players to pick from and you’re likely going to pay a higher price for them – it’s called supply and demand; look it up. With that in mind, if FUT is your go-to game mode and you own an Xbox or PlayStation console, I’d still recommend picking up FC 26 on either of them rather than the Switch 2. That’s also true if you’re planning on playing the Clubs game mode, a great online alternative to FUT, as sadly, this version of the game lacks crossplay.

Still, despite the issues with FUT and the lack of 60 FPS frame rates, FC 26 might be the best way to play some soccer in a handheld form factor. For the first time in years, it feels like the same game as what Xbox and PlayStation gamers are getting, and better still, there are some lovely new bits for us old-school Career moders to keep things fresh as we march from season to season. Given that this is just the first FC game for Switch 2, my hopes are already high for FC 27, at least higher than they were for FIFA 19, having played FIFA 18. That can only be a good thing.

That was our EA Sports FC 26 review for the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game. If you’re looking for something else to play in between seasons, be sure to check out our guides to the best Switch games and the best mobile games while you’re here. Or, if you’re looking for more fast-paced sporting action, see our list of the best football games.