(VIDEO) EA Sports FC 27 Now Available Worldwide as The Grounds Social Hub and Free Lite Edition Go Live

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Electronic Arts said EA Sports FC 27 is available worldwide, the fourth annual football game under the FC brand after the company left the FIFA name.

The title launched Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Players who bought the Ultimate Edition or the limited Ultimate Plus Edition were able to start on Sept. 18. PC copies unlocked on a global clock a few hours ahead of midnight console drops in many regions. A free download, FC 27 Lite, arrived the same day on selected storefronts.

Nick Wlodyka, senior vice president and group general manager of EA Sports FC, said in the company’s launch statement: “FC 27 is the biggest football experience we’ve ever delivered, with more ways for every fan to find their place in The World’s Game. At the heart of that is The Grounds, one of our biggest mode innovations in years, introducing a new social football playground where players can compete, connect, and express themselves on and off the pitch. Alongside meaningful updates across Football Ultimate Team, Career Mode, and gameplay, FC 27 has been shaped by our community. We’re incredibly proud of what our teams have built, and we can’t wait to see how fans around the world make FC 27 their own.”

The Grounds is the feature EA put first. The company described it as “a social football playground where the streets meet the stadium,” with kickabouts, one-on-one matches and Clubs, plus mentors and character progression on and off the pitch. Reveal materials named mentors including Kylian Mbappé, Chloe Kelly, Paulo Dybala and Alex Hunter, the former story-mode protagonist. The mode is limited to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, PC and Switch 2. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One copies do not include it.

Career Mode received a rebuilt transfer market. EA said it partnered with TransferRoom so player values reflect club buying power, potential, ratings and form, and so clubs bid against one another. New negotiation tools include performance and buy-back clauses. Dynamic overall ratings are meant to track form, morale and fitness. Managers can build and share custom scenarios through a web portal and play community Manager Live challenges.

Football Ultimate Team adds a FUT Gallery in which players collect sets of past and present items, raise a gallery level and earn rewards. EA listed holographic variants, Hall of FUT items, streamlined squad-building challenges and new single-player live events. Icons in Ultimate Team were described in pre-launch notes as arriving first as Debut cards in the mid-80s overall range before later Champion upgrades.

Gameplay notes from EA and its deep-dive video pointed to dynamic corners split into a delivery phase and a run phase, stronger attacking awareness, and defending that rewards manual jockeying, tackles, interceptions and blocks. The company said it retuned intercepts and PlayStyles after community complaints.

Licensing remains the commercial spine. EA said FC 27 includes more than 21,000 players from more than 800 clubs and national teams, 140 stadiums and more than 35 leagues, backed by more than 300 football partners. Competitions listed in a September authenticity release include the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Women’s Champions League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, the Premier League, Bundesliga, LALIGA EA SPORTS, Ligue 1 and several top women’s leagues.

Mbappé is on the Standard and Ultimate covers. Jude Bellingham joins him on the Ultimate Plus cover, a pre-order SKU sold through Aug. 31. That edition bundled up to seven days of early access, Premium Passes for Seasons 1 through 5, up to 10,000 FC Points across five monthly drops, and extra Ultimate Team items. Ultimate Edition buyers received a smaller points package and Season 1 Premium Pass. Standard Edition buyers got the full game on the 25th without early access. U.K. list prices reported at announcement were £69.99 on current-generation consoles and PC for Standard, £99.99 for Ultimate and £139.99 for Ultimate Plus. U.S. guides listed a Standard floor of $69.99.

FC 27 Lite is free on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series consoles, the EA app, Steam and the Epic Games Store. EA said launch modes are Kick-Off, Learn to Play, Online Friendlies and Online Seasons. An internet connection and an EA account are required. Players can pay to upgrade to the full game. Nintendo versions of Lite were not listed in the launch note. EA Play members get a 10-hour trial whose progress carries into a full purchase, plus 10 percent off digital EA goods including FC Points.

A companion Mobile 27 season update and anniversary event launched in parallel. The official soundtrack, 120 tracks from 36 countries, is on Spotify.

FC 27 is the successor to FC 26 and the 34th game in EA’s long football line that began as FIFA International Soccer. Development is credited to EA Vancouver and EA Romania on the Frostbite engine. Dual entitlement lets PlayStation 4 owners move to PlayStation 5, and Xbox One owners to Series hardware, without a second full-price purchase, EA said before launch.

The company asked players to send feedback through its FC Feedback Hub. Whether The Grounds becomes a daily social space or a quiet district, and whether the transfer rebuild quiets Career Mode complaints, will be measured in the weeks after servers fill. As of Friday, the pitch is open.