EAFC 25 to have playable youth team feature in career mode: Should we be excited?

It’s about that time of year again; the next installment of the EA FC (formerly FIFA) franchise is getting more and more coverage as more features are revealed in anticipation of its release. Set to come out in September of this year, the game will bring quite a few changes to previous titles, some of which players have been calling to see added for some time.

One of the standout new features set to take center stage has to do with manager career mode. EA announced that the new addition to the franchise is set to have a playable youth academy feature for fans of this particular game mode to enjoy.

Anyone who’s played FIFA or EA FC in the past will be able to tell you just how little love manager career mode has gotten over the years. The last few editions of the game have focused a bit more on this aspect of gameplay as public outcry mounted, often calling out EA for its lack of creativity in this department.

At face value, the addition of a playable youth academy is a massive step in the right direction. It adds another level of depth to youth player development and adds both immersion and personal investment into developing young stars, with past iterations dictating that players had to either loan youngsters out or see them rot in the stagnant academy format that we’re all used to.

The academy feature will allow players to utilize these young stars in youth tournaments every two months where they face off in five-a-side games that allow players to see how they would play at the top of their potential. It is a minimally invasive addition for players to have a hand in their own youth prospects development.

On the flip side, at least prior to trying it, this mode seems like it could have been expanded to a full youth team season that includes domestic competitions, cup tournaments, and the UEFA Youth League. While having a mode to finally make use of the youth team prospects players scout is a nice touch, adding a full youth roster and starting 11 would’ve added a stronger level of realism to the game.

FC 24 laid the foundation for other aspects of the game that could be adopted into expanding this youth team system, particularly with the hiring of club staff/ coaches. The game's current iteration allows for the hiring of attacking, defensive and goalkeeper coaches to help with the progression of one’s players at the club. This could be extended into this figurative full-scale youth system by allowing for the hiring of youth coaches.

These youth coaches could take charge of said starting 11 for players who would not want to get into the nitty-gritty of having to manage both a first team and youth team, but the mode could also allow for the player to take charge and tinker with the lineups, as well as play the games in real-time.

All in all, while there is some excitement being felt with this new youth team concept coming to FC 25, it still feels like EA could have done more to expand this to a full-scale youth development mode that could have added serious depth to manager career mode. Time will tell if this addition ends up living up to the expectations of the manager career mode community, or if it once again feels like a half-baked attempt to appease what has been classically a mostly ignored segment of the player base.