When it was announced that EA FC would include a never-seen before game mode called ‘Evolutions‘, the majority of EA FC players were extremely positive about the addition. The chance to evolve cards that may never see a promo card, or just to have fun with supported teams and footballers, was nothing short of enticing.
It was marketed quite heavily too, several images and videos uploaded by EA indicated to players clearly that Evolutions were not just to be included as a niche alternative for gamers, but that they would matter. However, the conclusion to that discussion is yet to be answered with an opinion that favours a majority.
Now that we are in the middle of the Future Stars promo, EA have released several of the ‘Future Stars Academy’ Evolutions. This sparked a lot of hype within the general community, but the hardcore players that have engaged with evolutions the most are asking questions about the generally disappointing mechanic.
Poor Execution of Evolutions
It’s no secret across the community that Evolutions have generally been poor. Whether it’s the upgrades, the lack of evolution cards in teams or the pricing, many of those who were hyped by the revelation of the mode are not enjoying the execution.
If you wanted to complete all 6 Future Stars Evolutions, it would take you a MINIMUM of 132 matches
If you did that all in Squad Battles, thats at least 1056 minutes of gameplay
18 hours straight of Squad Battles games…
That’s ridiculous 💀 pic.twitter.com/lHeE565RK1
— Waldy – EAFC Trader (@sub2waldy) February 17, 2024
EA have released at least 60 evolutions so far in Ultimate Team, and while it can be argued that it’s good to see them being released in abundance, it quite simply isn’t enough if the majority of them don’t make sense to engage with or have become quickly outdated. Many of them, especially the newer ones, have had these issues:
- Terrible Upgrades
- Overpriced Evolutions via EA FC Coins or EA FC Points
- Repetitive or Annoying “Challenges” when Completing Evolutions
- Limiting Chained Evolutions through PlayStyles and Rating Caps
These are the foundational problems with the new mechanic that have stained its reputation since release, but lesser-known or mentioned issues need more attention. It should be addressed that these are certainly not being ignored but have been discussed for months on end on every platform, so they won’t be covered here in detail.
The ‘Good Evolutions’ are Premium Objectives
You may remember the Centurions Llorente (87), which was an extremely popular evolution for gamers to complete, lasted until TOTY in many teams.
Right. This is silly 🫨
Evolutions in the best thing EA have added since FUT was #EAFC24 pic.twitter.com/aoK7CLtIZC
— EAFC 24 News (@UTSources) October 27, 2023
The tweet even suggests the mode is amazing when we were still very early into the game cycle because of a card this good, despite it taking 40 games to complete.
Pep Legacy Alaba (93), Finisher Malen (89), or Quick Step Walker (87) are just a few other examples of these ‘good evolutions’, and they are viewed this way because they are meta and usable in Division Rivals and FUT Champions. But the problem is, are they actually evolutions?
Evolutions were brought in for diversity and promised to create unique cards constructed by the gamer. Upgrading a 60-rated bronze LW from Accrington Stanley to an 88 with stats that were earned by the gamer is an Evolution.
Everyone having the same few meta cards with the exact same stats and chains completely kills anything unique to the theme of Evolutions. Knowing exactly what you’re going to get after a certain number of games with the same player sounds like the objectives we’ve had in the game for years now.
Except now we pay 100k coins for some of these objectives because they have a usable card within the selection, and they can only be completed one at a time. This adds a kind of premium that Evolutions was not initially expected to do.
‘Future Stars Academy’ Cards are not New Evolutions
‘Future Stars Academy’ is not a new concept. It has been seen in previous titles as early as FIFA 21 and has become an expected gameplay-themed addition during the general Future Stars promo.
It used to be in the objectives tab, and they required a lot of games to obtain the cards that were picked by EA. Noticed something?
🚨Future Stars Academy seems to be returning in EAFC 24 #EAFC24
One of the greatest concepts ✅
I hope that EA makes something special for this year 🙏 pic.twitter.com/3FAwuJ0GXU— Weaver – FUT (@WeaverFUT) February 7, 2024
This is not a brand-new evolution. It isn’t a brand-new feature, and it isn’t even an evolution per se because the whole point of Evolutions was to pick your own cards and upgrade them how and when you want to. Anyone that engages with this knows what the upgrades are and have a very limited pool of players to upgrade, so there is very little agency from the players’ perspective.
They’re of the same nature as Premium Objectives and combined with Future Stars Academy, which existed before as Objectives, but have now been manipulated to look like Evolutions. Furthermore, the player can’t even complete multiple Academy cards at the same time, when you could in previous in titles, racking up more tedious games of Squad Battles.
Glitches and Loopholes
No game mode by EA can go without having loopholes and glitches, and Evolutions are no exception to the rule. Due to the poor execution of Evolutions, some players have turned to using loopholes to make evolving cards actually worthwhile.
🚨 Fast Forward Expires Today 🚨
🚀 Road to 98 Adopo 🕓
✅Claim Level 1 Fast Forward
❌DONT Claim Level 2 Fast Forward
✅Claim Level 2 Unsung Hero
❌DONT Claim Level 3 Unsung Hero
✅Complete Red Evolution
✅Complete Double Plus Pursuit
✅Claim ALL🍀 Good luck sniping him! 😅 pic.twitter.com/7waaPwYtzx
— Evo King (@EA_FC_) February 3, 2024
The card showcased above is a glitched Adopo that can be obtained through several incomplete evolutions, and then claiming all when the stats are significantly better. Notice the multiple Playstyle+ on the cards, another benefit of using these loopholes. Even TOTY’s cannot match the stats of some of these players.
There is zero sentimental value on these cards, and they showcase the biggest problem regarding Evolutions in EA FC, and that’s their purpose. These cards are only desirable because players know that these glitched cards will get them more wins in Champions and Division Rivals; 99% of players are not completing these cards with the intention of using their favourite players for squad diversity.
But can anyone blame these gamers for doing this? Evolutions otherwise are not worth completing and this is the only way to successfully chain them in a game designed for rewards and only competitive play, so it can’t be looked down upon much because the game hasn’t been designed to evolve cards fairly.
RTTF Upgrades also applied to the glitched evo cards😅
What on earth is this card?😭😭 pic.twitter.com/zWXdZkM215
— FUTBIN (@FUTBIN) February 16, 2024
Adopo is one of the few footballers in game to have an evolved card at a 99 rating, but this recent addition to this exclusive list is the most absurd of all.
During TOTY, EA made another grand mistake that would’ve faced more severity had they not made the blunder with TOTY Messi. However, the card that some people managed to obtain as a result of this error was a card arguably better in a 99 Tella. This card exists because any card of Tella with Nigeria as his nation got a +12 to match his RTTF promo card upgrade, which also included any evolution that had been completed with the Bayer Leverkusen winger.
The highest rated possible evolution for him was 87, so the +12 would give him a 99 rating. But don’t worry if you have him any lower, because RTTF Upgrades seem to count for the glitched cards too. It would be interesting to see what kind of upgrades are possible if Leverkusen win the competition, which given their incredible form, is a strong possibility.
A 99 Tella with 99 stats in all offensive attributes, 5* 5* and several Playstyle+, it will be an incredible sight.
Can EA Save Evolutions?
Despite all the problems listed throughout this piece, people will continue to engage with Evolutions in the hopes that things will turn around, and that the community will be able to eventually chain their favourite players and create the unique cards they’ve dreamed for during the wait for EA FC.
There’s still quite a long time to go in the game cycle, and EA will eventually loosen their grip on rating and playstyle caps, so be sure to expect more chains in the future. It’s also their first year with this mechanic, and the surmounting pressure to reshape their game modes in Ultimate Team for next year’s title could be a huge positive for the future of this mode.
For now though, you’ll need to interact with their never-ending push of loot-box mechanics if you want to keep up with the current Evolutions.
