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EA Sports announced that the launch of Gameplay Refresh Update for EA SPORTS FC 25, which includes the biggest mid-season gameplay overhaul ever implemented, driven by your feedback.

With the Gameplay Refresh Update, you can expect to see:

  1. Major updates to core gameplay systems like passing, shooting, goalkeeping, and defending.
  2. More offensively fluid gameplay enabling you to move the ball easier.
  3. Reduced tacklebacks and AI interceptions.
  4. Addressed issues like defenders catching up to dribblers too often.
  5. Updated Rush Club Search in Football Ultimate Team.

Let’s jump straight into the changes will EA Sports making to EA SPORTS FC 25.

Defenders Catching Up To Fast Ball Carriers Too Easily

Attackers with the ball are naturally slower than when they’re sprinting without it, but EA Sports have observed that defenders can occasionally catch up to fast-moving ball carriers too quickly.

As a result, Title Update #8 addresses instances of players catching up to the ball carrier despite the ball carrier having much higher Pace Attributes.

In practice, this means slower defenders will now have a harder time catching up to faster attackers in FC 25. This adjustment not only resolves a key issue you’ve raised, but also allows us to enhance the overall fluidity of offensive gameplay, as outlined in these Pitch Notes.

Here’s how a defender could have caught up to an attacker before Title Update #8.

And here’s how that same scenario can play out with Title Update #8, notice how the defender doesn’t catch up to the attacker easily.

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More Fluid Offensive Positioning And Better Attacking Support

EA Sports seen your feedback about the balance between how effective attacking and defending feels in EA SPORTS FC 25, so EA Sports decided to make some changes to the attacking side of the game to make it more effective and fun:

  • Improved AI teammate attacking run quality when trying to beat the offside line.
    • AI teammates can now better hold their runs when near the line and get back onside more quickly.
  • Increased intelligence of attacking and supporting runs made by AI teammates.
  • Improved effectiveness of Inside and Advance Forwards.
    • They can move farther up the pitch.
    • They can better evaluate when to run into space or occupy a position.
  • Offensive players can now operate in attacking spaces near other attackers instead of stopping their runs.
  • Players are now able to provide quicker support when they are familiar with their Role.

To clarify, this doesn’t mean that a CDM will suddenly play as a striker. Instead, it means that all roles are now quicker at performing support tasks, such as getting into position to receive a pass or making runs into space.

Overall, these changes are designed to make your team more dynamic in attack, offering you more options while ensuring that attacks feel smoother and more natural.

For example, here’s a situation before Title Update #8 in which attacking AI teammates did not make any particularly effective runs.

Here’s the same scenario with Title Update #8, demonstrating how attacking players can now make smarter decisions and runs, which could lead to a goal scoring opportunity.

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Reducing Tacklebacks (Losing The Ball After Your Tackle)

Sometimes, what seems like a successful tackle results in a tackleback, where the opposing player regains possession. While this can happen in real life and in video games, EA Sports have noticed it occurring more frequently than it should in FC 25, leading to unnecessary frustration.

As a result, EA Sports are making two changes to reduce how often tacklebacks can occur:

  • Defenders with the Anticipate PlayStyle are now more likely to tackle the ball towards a teammate with more space if stopping the ball in place would be disadvantageous.
  • Improved the quality of touches defenders can make on tackles.

Here’s an example of a tackleback situation EA Sports have addressed. This footage is from before Title Update #8—notice how the attacker ultimately regains possession of the ball.

And here’s how the same situation can play out after Title Update #8, note that the attacker doesn’t end up winning the ball.

In addition, we’re also addressing two issues that could have resulted in tacklebacks:

  • In some cases, the ball carrier might have unintentionally stumbled forward during a tackle, leading to an incorrect regaining of possession.
  • In some cases, the defender might have stumbled while running towards the ball after a successful tackle, instead of properly regaining possession.

As usual, EA Sports will continue to closely look at your feedback regarding tacklebacks.

Improved Goalkeepers For Near Post Shots

EA Sports are looking to make goalkeepers more authentic when dealing with near post shots. To start, EA Sports are addressing this issue:

  • In tight-angle shooting situations, goalkeepers might occasionally have moved away from the near post incorrectly.

Here’s how this issue looked before Title Update #8.

And here’s how goalkeepers react in the same scenario with the issue addressed in Title Update #8:

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Simultaneously, EA Sports will implementing a broader behavioral adjustment aimed at improving goalkeepers’ effectiveness in covering near-post shots.

  • Goalkeepers will now position themselves slightly closer to the near post.

Faster Passing, Balance Changes, And Issues Addressed

EA Sports aims for FC 25 to reward intelligent and quick-thinking passing plays. To achieve this, they will introduce the following set of changes:

  • Slightly increased speed of normal Ground Passes.
  • Slightly increased accuracy of short Ground Passes to open players.
  • Significantly increased effectiveness of Semi Assisted Through Passes.

Although some of these changes may seem minor in isolation, when combined with other passing adjustments, they are intended to make it easier for players to move the ball across the pitch.

Additionally, EA Sports tuning the effectiveness of certain passes based on your feedback and how you want the game to be played:

  • Significantly reduced effectiveness of first-time Lofted Through Passes.
  • Significantly increased effectiveness of Semi Assisted Through Passes.
  • Moderately reduced accuracy of headed passes in contested situations.

But that’s not all when it comes to Passing, EA Sports also addressing a number of issues you’ve let EA Sports know about:

  • Low powered Ground Passes were sometimes being delivered to farther players than intended.
  • Medium powered passes sometimes focused too much on the player’s aim input instead of the amount of power generated.
  • Addressed some instances where first time passes were less responsive than intended when the input was performed late.
  • Sometimes, free kick passes were not hit towards the intended receiver if the receiver was moving too quickly.

More Effective Shooting Inside The Box

With Title Update #8, EA Sports aims to empower players with their shooting and enhance their ability to score more goals. To achieve this, they are introducing changes focused on improving goal-scoring, particularly from inside the box:

  • Increased accuracy and shot speed from inside the box for regular and Finesse shots.
  • Slightly increased accuracy of low difficulty regular and Finesse shots in the box.

To clarify the second point, “low difficulty” shots refer to scenarios influenced by various factors, such as the shooter being free from pressure, accurate and well-timed player input, the shooter having a favorable angle toward the goal, and other similar conditions, much like in real-life situations.

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You can think of low difficulty shots as the types of shots you would expect your favorite high skilled real world players to make.

While EA Sports aims to improve goal-scoring from inside the box, they also wanted to adjust the tuning around Finesse shots overall. This decision was made to reduce the disparity between players with high shooting attributes but no Finesse Shot PlayStyle and those who possess the PlayStyle or PlayStyle+. EA Sports recognizes concerns about a potential significant reduction in the effectiveness of the Finesse Shot PlayStyle, but this is not the case:

  • Slightly increased the impact of Attributes on the accuracy of Finesse shots taken by players without the Finesse Shot or Finesse Shot+ PlayStyles.

EA Sports have also addressed the following issue:

  • Addressed some instances where first time shots were less responsive than intended when the input was performed late.

Defensive Positioning And Behavior

EA Sports is also making changes to the defensive side of the game to encourage players to take more direct control of their defensive efforts instead of relying on AI positioning.

  • In Competitive Football Ultimate Team and Online Seasons ruleset matches, AI defenders will mark dribblers less tightly and will be less likely to cover shooting lanes near the edge of the box.
  • Further decreased how often AI players are able to make successful interceptions.

At the same time, EA Sports recognizes the importance of the defensive side of the game and is working to address several areas based on player feedback:

  • Defenders will focus more on man marking when defending counter attacks starting from corners.
    • The intent of this change is to provide more effective defensive positioning against counter attacks originating from corners.
  • RM/LM players with the Winger Balanced Role can drop deeper when defending.
  • Falsebacks could stay central for too long when the team lost possession.
    • They will now immediately look to return to their LB/RB positions.

Updated Rush Club Search In Football Ultimate Team

EA Sports aims to simplify the process of finding the right Player Items for assembling Rush Squads and make it easier to achieve Rush Point Bonuses.

EA Sports announced that following an upcoming server release, players will be able to search for Player Items more easily by selecting the current Rush Point Bonus requirement. For instance, if there is a minimum 75 DEF requirement, selecting that will provide five search results featuring applicable Player Items.

If you don’t have five Player Items that meet the criteria, the search results will display your top Player Items instead. For example, if you have three eligible Player Items, they’ll appear in the search results, and the remaining two spots will show your top Player Items. If you have no eligible Player Items, the search results will simply display your top five Player Items.

Of course, you can still do manual searching, and when you enter Rush squad building the default search will focus on the first Rush Point Bonus criteria.

For More News & Updates Visit ReFIFA YouTube Channel.

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