EA Sports FC 27, available 25 September the free-to-play game that launches with open-world “The Grounds” and a £149.99 Ultimate Plus Edition

ByBusines Newswire

EA Sports FC 27 will be released globally on 25 September 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2 and is already announced for PS4 and Xbox One.

All players who purchased either the Ultimate edition or the Ultimate Plus edition have also been able to gain seven days of early access as of the 18th of September.

The most substantial new feature is The Grounds, a fully explorable social space. The new pre-order Ultimate Plus edition, the most expensive EA football game ever, is also a new feature.

Here is a detailed list of the launch information, contents of each edition, and the most important new features of the game.

Release Date and Platforms

FC 27 will be launched across the world on 25th of September 2026. Early access has started as of 18th of September and it’s limited to only two editions – the Ultimate and the Ultimate Plus editions.

The game is currently launched on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2 and on PS4 and Xbox One.

EA are also launching “FC 27 Lite” which will be a free trial, where the limitation is based on how much of the game is played before the time runs out; this trial will go live with the game on release day.

Pre-orders are available at the EA App Steam the Epic Games Store, the PlayStation Store and the Xbox Store.

Three Editions, Three Price Points

FC 27 comes in three editions:

  • Standard Edition: $69.99
  • Ultimate Edition: $99.99
  • Ultimate Plus Edition: $149.99
  • The Standard Edition consists of the base game and pre-order bonuses. The pre-order incentives encompass a 92+ OVR ICON item from FC 26, a sportswear set exclusive to Grounds, with a Mbappé-themed temporary attribute boost.

The Ultimate Edition offers seven days of early access, 6000 FC Points over three months, and an 85+ OVR ICON item. It also gives an additional FUT Evolution slot plus the Season 1 premium pass.

In addition to that, Fut Champs Ultimate Edition Plus: 10000 FC points, premium passes for Seasons 1 to 5, and a Hall of Fut player pick. It was provided for pre-order/first season period in a limited bundle.

The five-dollar difference was also a matter of discussion on social media. It was criticized by some players who considered it expensive, considering EA mode is less costly than the $100 Ultimate Edition of GTA 6.

The Grounds: What’s That?

The Grounds is the open world social space, which can host a maximum of 100 players. The Grounds is divided into three districts around a central “Terrace”, which is linked by three football-inspired districts from around the world.

The three districts are:

  • Montclair: urban football in a French town
  • Zeiza: the spirit of the Argentine potrero
  • Parkside: British working-class football tradition
  • Clubs mode has not been taken away. It’s now all within The Grounds, and the 11v11 format is still there. Players can enter the Clubs experience by walking to the Clubhouse entrance within the hub:

Contests span a spectrum of competitive intensity. There are styles that extend from club leagues and tournaments to party-style and all-out mini-games like dodgeball, basketball, and football.

Four mentors: Alex Hunter, who has just come off The Journey; Kylian Mbappé; Chloe Kelly, and Paulo Dybala will guide you through each challenge:

EA has verified that all items of clothing which can be bought in The Grounds can also be gained through in-game currency. They’re not purchasable items.

Early Ultimate Team Look: Pack Odds and Rule Changes

Early access has allowed players to see what is on offer in Ultimate Team. At an EA launch event, popular content creators were playing with 7.5K packs using a rule that was not available in the prior year of the game: two players rated between 75 and 82 are a minimum key to your pack.

The pack odds page offers an 8.9 per cent chance of an 84+ rated player in a 7.5K pack.

One of the creators opened around 60 to 70 packs before the first Walkout, a Dudo McCabe, rated 86. Last year, this creator noted that the first Walkout occurred every 20-30 packs. There weren’t any promo packs at launch.

Pricing is still fluctuating before the full launch of the game, with many early listings undercutting or overcutting the market. Some traders said one of the new icons had already been packed in early access. In other online game economies, players looking for FC 27 Coins often turn to MMOEXP online game store, though FC 27’s Ultimate Team market remains separate and is driven by FC Points and coins.

Player Backlash, Yet Strong Sales

The 149.99 Ultimate Plus Edition has gained a strong reaction from the community, with arguments raised that it’s although it’s 50 dollars more than the 100-dollar GTA 6 Ultimate Edition.

But sales data paint a different picture. Pre-orders of the FC 27 Ultimate Plus Edition on PlayStation stores in the UK and Europe temporarily beat pre-orders of the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition, and because of this, its comparison to sales indicates a trend of criticism to complement consumption.

Renzo Barrasa, a former EA tester and designer who was with the company 2013–2025 and who has publicly spoken against The Grounds, called it “the most terrible […] project” of his career and said the mode would “make EA [look] bad”.

Critics Split

FC 27 was available on Metacritic with an aggregated score of 75 from 10 professional reviews. Seven reviews were generally favorable, two were mixed, and one was unfavorable.

Destructoid rated the game 90 out of a 100 and said that it’s “correcting many of [the series’] past mistakes”.

Made it to number 35 on Radio Times Top 100 television shows of the year. Radio Times’s review, “EA continues to avoid meaningful gameplay change in favor of increasingly greedy monetization”. Rating 20.

What to Watch

FC 27 launches on September 25, with The Grounds, the new mode that is most ambitious in the whole series, and the new edition of the product, which is priced at the highest, 149.99. Both of these were widely debated before launch.

Review scores are falling at odds. Player surveys following release will clarify The Grounds9’s new position as the latest FC cornerstone or, as critics have predicted, another expensive trial.