EA Sports has announced the patch notes for the upcoming Holiday Update in FC 26, and players will have to adjust to some significant gameplay changes.
Following a relatively stale meta in November, things could freshen up following the release of the Holiday Update patch. Goalkeeping seems to be a significant topic for the current patch, but there’s bad news for those who are having problems with the AI defending.
Complete FC 26 Holiday Patch notes
The patch, set to go live very soon on PC and consoles, includes plenty of changes. Here’s a brief list of what you can expect to experience in Ultimate Team.
Goalkeeping movement patched
EA Sports has dramatically reduced the movement speed and the amount of ground covered from manual goalkeeper movement. The Goalkeeper Rush to Center mechanic from open play has also been removed since it can be considered as another form of movement.
- Greatly reduced movement speed and amount of ground covered when using Manual Goalkeeper Movement in open play.
- Removed Goalkeeper Rush To Center mechanic from open play, it can still be performed during set pieces.
- Addressed an issue where goalkeepers could have sometimes reacted poorly to first time shots.
- Addressed cases of the goalkeeper not being able to save certain shots when diving to the opposite side of the goal.
- [Competitive Only] The goalkeeper can now transition faster to the next action after catching the ball.
- This includes but is not limited to actions like throwing the ball, dropping the ball to feet for a pass, moving with the ball, and more.
Attacking, Defending, and Passing
A few tweaks are also being made to general attacking, defending, and passing.
- Players who were trying to avoid going offside could’ve become unintentionally passive, and they will now look to run into open space more often.
- Slightly decreased the accuracy of headed passes.
- Lowered crossing ball trajectory height to reduce the amount of crosses that were keeping the ball in the air for too long.
- Addressed cases of the secondary contain indicator appearing incorrectly during possession.
Unfortunately, AI defending will remain the same for the time being. This will be slightly disappointing, as many in the community have been abusing the mechanic to get away while being poor at manual defending.
Career Mode
The Career Mode also includes plenty of changes and bug fixes.
- Added a new field in Squad Hub indicating players’ willingness to extend their contracts.
- Added a new tab in the Manager Live Hub to streamline starting a new Live Start Point and Manager Live save, providing quicker access to previously earned retro kits rewards.
- Shortcut selections are now remembered automatically when exiting the switcher menu rather than requiring a manual selection save.
- Added an in-menu preview for mascots in the Create Your Club flow
- In Player Career, the Player Archetype preview tile now displays both current XP and XP needed to reach the next level.
- Added Recommended Archetypes in the Player Career creation flow instead of Attributes.
- Added a Mascot preview when using Create Your Club.
You can check out the full patch notes from here.
