EA Sports is giving the community 'huge priority' on EA FC 26 as 'big difference' claim made

EA Sports has listened closely to the EA Sports FC community when developing EA FC 26, with senior producer Samuel Rivera claiming he's "never seen such a big difference" between games.

The next instalment of the EA Sports FC franchise, EA FC 26, is set to be released in a few months, but as of now, we know little about what to expect from EA Sports' new game, officially at least. EA FC 26 leaks have been impossible to avoid on social media over the past few weeks, with information such as the release date, the game's pre-order bonuses and new Ultimate Team Icons all being leaked.

But now, Rivera, EA's senior producer, has given players a first real insight into EA FC 26's development, and from what he's said, players should be getting excited about the new game. For years, the FIFA and EA Sports FC community has complained about EA being out of touch with the wants of the player, but according to Rivera, EA is working closer with the game's community than ever before, resulting in never-before-seen differences.

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Breakthrough or a bluff?

Speaking to Madrid In Game (

‼️Primeras declaraciones de Sam Rivera sobre FC 26 en @MadridinGame 👀

1️⃣Nunca se había escuchado tanto a la comunidad como ahora.
2️⃣Probando FC 26 y comparando el gameplay con FC 25 la sensación es totalmente DIFERENTE. pic.twitter.com/gTZG2qWnh2

— Edu Castellano (@EduuCastellano) June 25, 2025

), Rivera discussed how EA is working with the game's playerbase to improve for EA FC 26, while also revealing how big these changes feel compared to EA FC 25.

"The only thing I can say is that we've never worked so closely with the community," said Rivera. "We're giving a huge priority to exactly what the community has told us they want us to improve in the game.

"We've always listened, but now we're fully integrated into the community for the next game. When we play the new game and then the old one, we feel the difference.

"The difference I'm feeling today... I've probably never seen such a big difference."

EA has always claimed that listening to community feedback is a big consideration when making a new game, though in all honesty, it hasn't always come across that way in-game until EA FC 25. It reached a point in EA FC 25 where the quality of gameplay was arguably at its lowest point in years, but EA took a lot of community feedback on board as it released a big gameplay update that rejuvenated the game.

I do think that EA has started to realise just how important it is to listen to the community and grant their wishes. But, it will be interesting to see what changes EA will be making based on community feedback in EA FC 26.

There are still some glaring issues in the game that I think need to be sorted out, with the biggest offenders being input delay, a ridiculously high power curve in Ultimate Team, and a lack of punishment for players who quit games; these are the three biggest problems that I see the community complaining about the most.

For me, the lack of punishments for quitting games is a big problem that needs to be fixed. Players shouldn't be allowed to quit a game in a penalty shootout to avoid giving their opponent the win without any consequence, so punishment for quitting would easily combat the toxicity problem that we saw in EA FC 25.

So, will EA make these needed updates in EA FC 26, or will they focus on smaller, easier changes instead? Only time will tell.