After playing EA Sports FC 27’s new open-world mode, I’m less worried about it being an NBA 2K advertising nightmare

When EA Sports FC players first heard that EA was developing an open-world mode for its massively popular football simulator, minds immediately went to its basketball equivalent, NBA 2K’s The City.

For those unfamiliar, one of 2K‘s largest money spinners in its annual basketball title rips players off the court and forces them to plod around a clunky open world in order to complete quests that, in the past, have included such basketball staples as recording an album and hanging around with the mascot of a US insurance firm.

It is, frankly, very easy to imagine how EA could take this very lucrative formula and apply it to FC. However, after playing the mode, my main concern has shifted from its potential as an advertising factory, and more towards whether I’ll be able to have enough mates online at once to take advantage of it.

The Grounds is an evolution of the popular Clubs mode. Players create an avatar of themselves, or in true Clubs fashion, whatever monster they can get away with in EA’s character creator, and head into The Grounds.

The open-world portion begins at The Terrace, which connects The Clubhouse to the rest of the world. The Clubhouse is where the traditional Clubs experience lives, meaning players who don’t want to interact with the rest of the world can stay away.

The rest of The Grounds is split into three districts, which are inspired by footballing hubs around the world: the UK, France and Argentina. Each section of The Grounds features architecture and pitches inspired by that nation’s footballing heritage.

When it comes to actually playing football in The Grounds, players have a lot of choice. At the most competitive end, there’s the 11 vs 11 clubs experience, which has received some updates such as FUT-inspired live events and objectives. At the other end of the scale, The Grounds introduces some new minigames and small-sided kickabouts that are extremely fun.

One dodgeball-like game saw four players attempt to smash the ball as hard as they could against their mate in order to make them lose lives. Powerups that make the ball quicker and send obstacles towards other players can be used to shake things up. This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing players will obsess over, but more daft ways to interact with the mechanics of FC are welcome.

The small-sided games, which EA said are inspired by Clubs players who hacked together their own 3vs3 experiences in the old Clubs framework, are a lot of fun. Never has there been a more authentic representation of playing some nice passes with your friends at 5-a-side, only for one of them to hold on to the ball for too long and for everyone to shout at each other while the opposing team slaps it into an empty net.

Each instance of The Grounds will feature 100 players, though players can easily team up with their friends of club mates. There’s also a fast travel system between game modes and objectives, meaning jumping into a match or finishing off a quest is easy.

Players can improve their player by completing challenges for Mentors who will give out quests. These mentors are Kylian Mbappe, Paulo Dybala, Chloe Kelly, and Alex Hunter, who older fans will remember as the protagonist from The Journey in older FIFA titles. Mbappe, Dybala, and Kelly all provide voice acting for their quests, though just how much they’ll actually be chatting to your player isn’t quite clear.

Each player can choose an Archetype which will influence how they play on the pitch, and what kind of PlayStyles they can work towards. This can be changed at any time. Everything the player does in The Grounds earns XP towards their overall player progression.

The Grounds will also change throughout the year. I was shown a brief, work-in-progress look at how events themed around the Champions League, Halloween and other seasonal events will change the open-world of The Grounds and bring with it new objectives.

When being let loose in The Grounds for the first time, I genuinely expected streets and streets of shops plucked from the JD dimension, but, at least in the version I saw, this isn’t the case. Player customisation and player fashion are things players can obsess over if they want to, but they’re not in your face. Nike, Adidas, Puma, and New Balance have all been confirmed for inclusion, with other notable streetwear brands teased for the future.

I’m impressed with The Grounds so far, though I’m slightly mournful of the fact that I don’t think I’ll ever get to experience it the way it’s intended. It feels like a dream mode for the version of me that would finish school, get home, jump in a PSN party with my mates, and sit there all night chatting. It’s a social space where the football part can easily slide into the background.

I can also see exactly where this mode could be monetised within an inch of its life. My main question for the developers of The Grounds, whom I will be chatting to in the coming days, is whether or not I can build a player that’s just as capable as someone who’s spent real money, and what kind of time investment that will require.

Despite those concerns, my worst-case scenario worries of doing missions sponsored by Compare the Market in order to win a meerkat costume for my player are, so far, unfounded.