EA SPORTS FC™ 27 | Title Update v1.2.0 Pitch Notes

Welcome back to our latest Pitch Notes for Title Update v1.2.0, which begins rolling out on 10 November across PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

With this update, we’ll be delivering our first set of gameplay adjustments in FC 27, alongside updates across Career mode, and quality-of-life and bug fixes to Football Ultimate Team™ and The Grounds.

A couple of weeks ago, we also shared our Gameplay Developer Update that gave some early insights into the areas our teams have been investigating. A lot of the work you are seeing today comes directly from studying in-game match data across different modes & divisions, extensive testing with our Design Council, and listening closely to your feedback on Discord, our Feedback Portal, the EA Forums, and various social media channels.

Let’s get into it. 

Table of Contents

• Gameplay
  • 95 Depth
  • Positioning Improvements
  • Kick-off Defensive Improvements
  • Loose Ball Switching Improvements
  • Authentic Gameplay
  • Monitoring Tactical Diversity
  • Gameplay Bug Fixes
• Career
  • UI Improvements & New Settings
  • Career Mode Bug Fixes & Updates
• FOOTBALL ULTIMATE TEAM™
• The Grounds
  • The Grounds Bug Fixes & Updates

GAMEPLAY

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who took part in our Live Discord Q&A with the Gameplay Team on 30 October. It was a great way to connect directly with you all and dive deeper into our thinking behind some upcoming changes. 

Here is a closer look at the adjustments arriving in v1.2.0, expanding on what was previewed in our recent Gameplay Developer Update. 

95 Depth

Following your feedback from our recent Dev Notes, we’ve seen a lot of discussion around how prevalent extreme defensive approaches have become, and how they can be difficult to build up against. 

Because of this, we’ve adjusted how defenders position themselves with extreme defensive line heights. Defenders will now drop off sooner while still maintaining a higher line than other tactics. Note that this will be released as a Live Tuning Update alongside Title Update v1.2.0.

Positioning Improvements

When it comes to defensive positioning, fullbacks would sometimes drop too deep while defending. We’ve adjusted and improved this behaviour so fullbacks now hold a much firmer and solid defensive line. 

On the other side of the pitch, your attacking players will now do a better job at reading the opponent’s defensive line, and make more effective runs to stay onside. In addition, AI teammates will make more purposeful supporting runs and better capitalise on space around the box.

While offside calls will still naturally occur, these subtle changes are intended to create more attacking opportunities rather than eliminate these situations entirely.

Kick-Off Defensive Improvements

The defensive line now holds a slightly higher position right after kick-off, making it easier to defend against opponents looking to dribble directly into the box.

Loose Ball Switching Improvements

We’ve also improved auto-switching across several loose ball scenarios, including after a teammate completes a slide tackle, following a headed pass, and after a shot misses the target.

Authentic Gameplay

For those playing in Authentic Gameplay, we’ve adjusted the Team Positioning Marking Slider so that settings above 50 result in a more relaxed approach when closing down attackers compared to before. 

We’ve also tuned ball physics in wet weather where some touches were feeling too heavy in these conditions. 

Monitoring Tactical Diversity

We also heard your feedback regarding our recent notes on tactical diversity. Our initial assessment was based on a comparison of FC 26 match data during the same time last year. 

While we look at match data across every mode and skill level, we understand that just like real-world football, players can naturally share common tactics on the pitch, especially at higher levels.

Refining the balance between distinct tactical identities and competitive balance is an ongoing commitment from our team. We'll continue to keep an eye on how you're playing the game across all divisions and look at ways to ensure you always have viable and creative choices when setting up your squad.

Gameplay Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where defenders would be out of position after a deep free kick.
• Fixed an issue causing the Defending Aggression CPU slider in PvE for Kick Off, Tournaments, and Career Mode to not be fully functional.

For the full list of Gameplay bug fixes & quality-of-life updates, read our v1.2.0 Patch Notes releasing 10 November. 

CAREER

UI Improvements & New Settings

Building directly upon our previous Title Update, we’ve continued our set of improvements to Career Mode UI and expanded settings to give you greater control over your Career. 

You now have expanded customisation options for Player Energy Recovery, allowing you to fine-tune how fatigue affects your squad throughout the season. 

We’ve also updated the Press Conference UI to bring better clarity to manager responses and their morale impact. 

Beyond that, Player Wage Demands now better align with negotiated squad roles, and we tuned various Career Mode UI and audio elements, including board expectations, broadcast audio triggers, and post-match pop-ups.

Career Mode Bug Fixes & Updates

• Addressed an issue causing players to incorrectly submit transfer requests despite regular playtime.
• Corrected transfer status indicators and cleaned up action menus across the Transfer Hub and Squad Hub.
• Fixed various loan and transfer flow errors, including out-of-season recalls and cutscene visual bugs.
• Improved Youth Squad sorting and navigation within the Youth Academy menus.
• Polished Central Hub simulation inputs, Social Media text, and general menu UI assets.

For the full list of Career mode bug fixes and updates, read our v1.2.0 Patch Notes releasing 10 November. 

FOOTBALL ULTIMATE TEAM™

Our team is actively working on future feature updates for Football Ultimate Team™, and you can keep an eye out for our upcoming FUT Developer Notes, where we will talk you through some exciting changes and what to expect down the road. In the meantime, for v1.2.0, we wanted to deliver some immediate bug fixes you have been asking for.

• Resolved several issues on the Tactics and Edit Lineup screens, including bugs that prevented tactical setups or player substitutions from saving or displaying correctly.
• Fixed an issue where there was no cancel option during the final confirmation pop-up of multi-choice Evolutions.
• Resolved an issue where completing some Evolutions caused all 3 levels to display a +0 in Attribute increases. This was only a visual issue and did not impact the earned upgrades.
• Fixed a visual issue where unselected Player Items could incorrectly be displayed as selected in Streamlined SBCs.

For the full list of FUT bug fixes and updates, read our FC 27 v1.2.0 Patch Notes releasing 10 November. 

THE GROUNDS

Title Update v1.2.0 also brings a solid pass of bug fixes and quality-of-life updates across The Grounds.

The Grounds Bug Fixes & Updates

• Resolved an issue where goalkeepers could take too long to pass the ball when requested from behind.
• Fixed an issue where goalkeepers would sprint toward the opposite goal or abandon the goal line during shots taken by teammates.
• Restored full functionality to the Emote Wheel so using the quick-emote button reliably triggers the assigned emote.
• Fixed an issue where player preferred positions were not respected when entering Drop-In matches.
• Resolved a matchmaking issue where queueing as a goalkeeper in Drop-In or Rush could place the user into an outfield role.
• Corrected missing and mismatched player indicator dots on the radar mini-map.
• Restored missing progress notification badges on active Objectives.
• Resolved an issue where the shopping cart overlay remained stuck on screen after exiting the store.
• Optimized overall loading performance across The Grounds to ensure faster entry into matches and social spaces.

For the full list of The Grounds bug fixes & updates, read our v1.2.0 Patch Notes releasing 10 November. 

GENERAL UPDATES

In Title Update v1.2.0, we’ve expanded our player portrait database by adding 80+ newly updated and scanned player portraits including Antonee Robinson, Oscar Bobb, Mikkel Damsgaard, Yankuba Minteh, and more. This builds upon the 160+ portraits introduced in our previous Title Update. 

SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK

As always, your feedback helps shape the ongoing development of EA SPORTS FC™. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this latest update once it lands in your hands. You can leave your feedback here, which only takes a few minutes. 

Throughout the course of the EA SPORTS FC™ 27 season, we'll provide you with more information and updates when they become available. Be sure to follow @EASFCDIRECT on X or WhatsApp, check out the EA SPORTS FC Tracker, and join the EA SPORTS FC Discord for the latest news and updates.

-The EA SPORTS FC™ Team