Improving the Ultimate Team Ecosystem

[valid hare]

Hi, I’m Zenon. I’ve been playing since FIFA 13 and for the past 5 years I’ve worked giving trading tips to a large community group here in Brazil. I’d like to share my perspective on the current Ultimate Team model and suggest some changes that I believe could be positive.

Ultimate Team has always been a mode built on freedom to build squads, a wide variety of cards, and a very active market economy. Over the years, new mechanics have been added to keep the game fresh, such as evolutions, frequent events, and the inclusion of women’s football. However, some of these systems have ended up mixing together in ways that sometimes weaken mechanics that used to be central to the experience.

As someone who has played since FIFA 13 and follows the market and player behavior on a daily basis, I believe the game could benefit from reorganizing some of these mechanics. The idea is not to remove important content, but to separate it into its own experiences within the game, allowing each system to function better and helping recover part of the essence that made Ultimate Team so popular.

First, we need the return of the Seasons Mode, which would function similarly to live events but without a start or end date. Seasons would always be available, and within it there would be multiple ways to play.

1. Seasons “Standard” Mode
   A casual mode with fun matches, rewards, and weekly objectives that actually feel worth playing. It would work similarly to live events. Squad building would be completely open, with no restrictions.

2. Seasons Co-Op Mode
   This is not the main focus of this post, but it would be great to have a mode exclusively for 2v2 matches. Currently there is no dedicated environment where duos only face other duos. Playing with a partner and facing a single opponent often feels like a poor experience. This mode could also include rewards and even rankings.

3. Seasons “Old School” Mode
   A mode that only allows Bronze, Silver, Gold, and TOTW cards, similar to the early years of Ultimate Team. This would bring even more squad variety. It’s not the main focus of this post, but it’s a suggestion worth considering.

4. Women’s Seasons Mode
   A game mode exclusively for women’s cards, with gameplay that feels more realistic within that context. This could also help resolve the mixed football debate, which many players find immersion-breaking. Creating a dedicated mode could give women’s football more value inside Ultimate Team.

Women’s cards have also impacted pack opening, since many of them end up having little practical use, effectively doubling the number of 82+ cards. One possible solution would be to make them significantly rarer in packs, similar to how UCL cards used to be. This would make packing a women’s player feel much more exciting. Additionally, they would be required for this specific mode, which would have its own rewards and objectives, creating more hype and value around them.