EA FC 25 Career Mode adds live content, icons, and playable youth academy for first time

EA FC 25 has given Career Mode some much-needed attention and features several huge updates, including live content and icons for the first time.

Career Mode players have been critical of EA Sports in recent years, believing the developer has neglected them with all the focus put into the money-spinning Ultimate Team mode—but EA FC 25 adds some massive additions.

The biggest addition in EA FC 25 is the new Live Start function, enabling players to jump into Career Mode at a point of their choosing during the season, carrying on the progress from the team they select in the real world.

This opens the door to thousands of possibilities, from helping a team bounce back from a mid-season blip to taking the reigns after the sacking of their real-world manager, effectively adding new content every week.

Live Start won’t be available in EA FC 25 Career Mode at launch, however, and instead will roll out as an update after all the major seasons in European football kick-off, but there’s still plenty to enjoy in the meantime.

In addition, Icons are now no longer exclusive to Ultimate Team and can be used in Career Mode, whether you’re adding them to your squad in a Manager Career or taking control of them yourself in a Player Career, allowing players to rewrite the history books.

Day one Icons in EA FC 25 consist of Andrea Pirlo, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry, and Kelly Smith, while those who pre-order EA FC 25 will also have access to Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, and David Beckham in Career Mode.

Another big change for EA FC 25 Career Mode is the addition of Women’s Football, with the ability to move seamlessly from the men’s game into the women’s game and a playable youth academy for the first time—available every two months in the new Rush mode.

There is also greater customization for players in Career Mode, ranging from the ability to add a transfer embargo to your career and the new Simulation gameplay type: A slower experience that is “closer to what you’d see in a live football match.”