The FIFA 21 Career Mode reveal trailer has officially dropped, with tonnes of new features coming to Career Mode in the next edition of FIFA.
Career Mode fanatics can dive into Career Mode with an all-new Interactive Match Simulation, far more in-depth Player Development, Player Position Conversion to tailor players to new positions, New Active Training and Player Sharpness, as well as new transfer options and tonnes of general mode improvements.
Read More: FIFA 21 Gameplay Features Summary: Player Personality, Agile Dribbling, Creative Runs, Positioning Personality, Smoother Encounters And More
Interactive Match Simulation
The new Interactive Match Simulation engine is a fantastic new way for players to observe their team on the pitch, managing from the sidelines as opposed to controlling players on the pitch. Interactive Match Sim enables managers to adopt a more tactical and faster-paced approach to matches, making all important decisions from the touchline and watching their impact on the pitch from a top-down view.
In the Interactive Match Sim, the match plays out at twice the speed of regular gameplay. Out of play match moments are automatically skipped, ensuring that you’re always looking at meaningful events.
A big feature of the Interactive Match Sim is that managers can instantly jump in or out of matches to give players a traditional gameplay experience. This allows you to take control of those all-important, game-deciding moments to lead your team to glory!
New Match Launcher
Career Mode menus have been streamlined to allow you to get into games quicker, with an all-new match launcher, with the following three options:
- Play Match - load into traditional gameplay.
- Sim Match - launch the new Interactive Match Sim.
- Quick Sim - instantly jump to the final result of the match.
Player Development
With the new Player Development feature, a fully revamped player growth system, players are now enabled to grow a squad and make the most of it when possible.
Players can now be developed and focus on various roles that best suit their playing position, as well as their specific attribute set. Train that striker to be a ruthless Target Man, or shape that left-footed right-winger into the best Inside-Forward money can buy!
Player Position Conversion
A massively requested feature over the last few years has been the ability to tailor certain players into a different position. This is now possible in FIFA 21 with the new Player Position Conversion system.
Position Conversion is mechanically similar to Player Development, but the key difference is that all growth XP gets directed towards Attributes and abilities that would cater to the new position which the player is converted to.
Conversions can also impact Work Rates & Skill Move abilities of players.
Younger players will be naturally easier to convert to other positions, and declining veteran players can be guided towards a position that helps them conserve their key Attributes better.
New Active Training
The Active Training system introduces the concept of a Training Day which can take place on any day of your calendar, with the exception of Match Days:
- Each Training Day will feature 3 distinct training session slots, each focusing on a specific training Drill and specific players.
- Multiple players can now participate in each Drill, depending on the Drill type, allowing you to involve up to 15 players in each Training Day.
- Every session consists of diverse Drills and various scenarios focused on improving a specific area of the game: Defense, Passing, Dribbling, Shooting or Set Pieces.
- Training Days will always be pre-populated with the appropriate Drills and players based on the active Team Sheet, but you can always take control and edit them should you wish to fine tune your Training Day outcome.
- Changing your active Team Sheet will also give you the ability to instantly update the Drill and Player selection for your Training Day, allowing you to train an entirely new set of players (for example your reserves' team sheet), assuming that you haven’t consumed your training slots.
Player Sharpness
Player Sharpness is a new indicator that shows how ready a player or the team, on the whole, is for an upcoming match. Sharper players will have their attributes boosted, allowing for better in-game performances, while players that are slacking will see reduced attributes and overall ratings.
Sharpness ranges from 0 to 100.
- Sharpness at 50 means the player is at average Sharpness. They will not receive a boost nor will they incur a penalty on Attributes. Think of 50 as the baseline.
- Sharpness between 50-100 means the player is sharper than average and their Attributes will be boosted. Max sharpness (100) sets a Max Attribute boost.
- Sharpness between 0-50 means the player is below average Sharpness and his Attributes will be reduced. Min Sharpness (0) will determine the Max Attribute reduced.
Team Schedule Planning
In order to build Match Sharpness, manage Fitness Levels as well as Morale, a new Team Schedule Planner has been added into Career Mode in FIFA 21.
3 distinct types of daily activities can be set, each with their clearly defined role and purpose:
- Training Day - This is referenced in the above section, and is focused on building Match Sharpness at the expense of Fitness and Morale when overused.
- Recovery Day - Regains the most Fitness for players, but decreases Match Sharpness the most
- Rest Day - Recovers less Fitness than Recovery Days, but has a smaller decrease on Match Sharpness, while boosting Morale a little.
New Transfer Options & Improvements
With today’s transfer market being filled with new ways to buy, sell and loan players, FIFA 21’s Career Mode is no different, with:
- Loan To Buy - You can now loan players you wish to pick up first, with the option to make the transfer permanent should they fit your plans as desired.
- AI Player Swap Proposals - Player Swaps were introduced to Career Mode in recent years, however, now the AI will have the ability to initiate a Player Swap Proposal.
- Contract Renewal Improvements - AI-controlled clubs will now be far more diligent when it comes to contract renewals, meaning higher-profile stars will be less likely to leave clubs as free agents.
For all the additional FIFA 21 Career Mode news, be sure to check out the full pitch notes article here.