How do FUT Ballers work in FIFA 23? FUT Ballers upgrades explained

After a prolonged period of Fantasy FUT content flooding FIFA 23, EA decided that the time for a new promo event has come. The newest additions to Ultimate Team are called FUT Ballers. They come with an interesting, engaging upgrade mechanic. The quality of the content is a different topic altogether.

One thing about the FUT Ballers campaign that can’t be denied is its uniqueness. The previous event, Fantasy FUT, had a total of 56 players spread over two major releases and a ton of additional content via SBCs and Objectives. FUT Ballers is saying “to hell with all that” and is launching with a grand total of two players: Mason Mount and Luis Diaz. This is in line with the whole concept of the new campaign, which demands much more involvement from players.

What are FUT Ballers in FIFA 23?

The pun-tastic FUT Ballers promo is yet another dynamic setup created by EA. FUT Ballers will come in two types: Squad Building Challenges and Objectives. FUT Ballers Objectives are called Play to Style, to discern them from other Objectives. Completing them will reward you with the player, as well as a future FUT Birthday Team 1 pack, available from March 24. FUT Ballers SBCs will generally include weaker players than FUT Ballers Objectives, but that’s because the former can be upgraded beyond their base stats.

How to get FUT Ballers upgraded in FIFA 23

Only SBC FUT Ballers can be upgraded. The first thing you need to do is solve a FUT Ballers SBC. At launch, the only such SBC is Luis Diaz, so we’ll use him as an example. Base FUT Ballers Diaz is 86 OVR.

To upgrade a FUT Ballers player, you must complete a certain set of Objectives with him after you’ve solved his SBC. In Luis Diaz’s case, you must complete the first challenge in Mason Mount’s Play to Style Objectives tree, which says you have to score a finesse goal in five different matches in either Division Rivals or Squad Battles on at least semi-pro difficulty. Doing so will trigger a +2 upgrade to boost Diaz to 88 OVR.

This is how all FUT Ballers upgrades will work. EA will release one SBC and one Objectives player, with the former’s upgrade being a part of the latter’s Play to Style challenges.

Engaging FIFA 23 players in FUT Ballers upgrades is objectively a better gameplay approach than simply waiting on real-life developments to land your FUT item an upgrade. But it’s too bad that, at least judging by the initial items, this neat mechanic will be wasted on nothing more than late-season SBC fodder.