EA Sports FC 26 Adds Icons to Career Mode for First Time Ever

EA Sports FC 26 has been dropping new deep dives into this year’s version of the long-running series over the last weeks, and the most recent info dump gives players all the new details about Career Mode. Several important changes are coming to the mode this, including Authentic Mode, the manager market, and new unexpected events, but the biggest change is that Icons and Heroes are finally available in Manager Mode.

RELATED: EA Sports FC 26 Is a More Authentic Gameplay Experience Than Ever

Last year, the team introduced Icons into Player Career, letting fans play as their favorite superstars from yesteryear, but FC 26 is taking that one step further. This year, you’ll be able to take players like Ronaldinho, Gareth Bale, and David Beckham, put them onto a modern team, and see what happens. It’s something players have wanted for several years, so it’s great to see FC 26 finally add it to the game.

You won’t be able to add every manager right away. As you progress through the Season Pass, you’ll unlock new Icons and Heroes that you can then add to a Manager Career save. It’s important to note that you can’t add them to an in-progress save, so you’ll have to start over if you want to use a newly unlocked manager. Each season will add new Icons and Heroes, so don’t expect to have a total superteam from the jump.

Fortunately, there is another new way to play that should make flying up that Season Pass more fun. The new Manager Live mode lets you complete specific objectives based on real-world events. Many of these objectives let you play through shorter Career Mode saves, which means you’ll have a good way to unlock Icons and Heroes before diving into your main save with those players intact.

Between the new Live mode, the addition of Icons and Heroes, and all the other changes in the mode this year, the developers seem focused on giving fans tons of ways to play Career Mode. The classic style of managing a club is still in the game, but you’ll have plenty of variety this year.

It’s also easy to see the developers taking this feature even further in the future. Licenses will always be a problem, but having Icons and Heroes in Career Mode might be the next step toward EA FC having its version of the popular Negro Leagues mode from MLB The Show, where players get to relive past glories of their favorite players. Obviously, something that massive isn’t ready for FC 26, but it certainly seems like things are progressing in that direction, especially with how popular that mode has been in The Show.

For now, the addition of Icons and Heroes to EA Sports FC 26 is an excellent first step. We’ll get to see exactly how the team is rolling out new Icons and Heroes soon, as EA Sports FC 26 launches on September 25th for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC platforms. If you pick up the Ultimate Edition, you’ll get it seven days early on September 21st.