Evolutions completely changed how players built their Ultimate Team squads last year, allowing you to take lower-rated players and turn them into club legends. For EA FC 27, EA Sports is expanding the system to give players even more customization, better planning tools, and multiple ways to upgrade the exact same card.
Here is a full breakdown of how Evolutions are changing in EA FC 27, including the brand new Pathways system and Evolution Chain Previews.
What are Evolution Pathways?
In FC 26, every Evolution followed a strict, linear upgrade path. If you put a player into an Evo, you knew exactly what stats and PlayStyles they were going to get at the end of it.
In FC 27, EA is introducing Pathways, which allows Evolutions to have branching upgrade choices.
This means that during an Evolution, you may be presented with a choice on how to shape your player. For example, a central midfielder Evo might ask you to choose between an attacking pathway that boosts dribbling and adds the Technical PlayStyle, or a defensive pathway that boosts awareness and adds the Jockey PlayStyle.
While traditional linear Evos will still exist, Pathways will finally allow two players to put the exact same card into an Evolution and come out with completely different final versions based on what their squad needs.
How does the Evolution Chain Preview work?
One of the biggest headaches in FC 26 was trying to figure out if completing one Evolution would make your player ineligible for a future one. Players had a hard time mapping out their upgrade chains.
EA is bringing that functionality directly into the game with the Evolution Chain Preview.
In FC 27, you can preview a player going through one Evolution, and the game will then show you which other currently available Evolutions they will be eligible for once the first one is complete. This makes it incredibly easy to map out massive, multi-Evo upgrade paths for your favorite cards without having to guess if they will fit the requirements later on.
Updates to the PlayStyles Lab
First introduced in FC 26, the PlayStyles Lab allows players to customize the specific PlayStyles on eligible items. EA has confirmed the lab is returning as a recurring program in FC 27, starting in Season 1, but with a few key tweaks.
Instead of starting from a completely blank slate, eligible items will now feature a selection of pre-applied PlayStyles(like the FoF: Star Performers). You will then be able to fine-tune a specific portion of the remaining PlayStyle slots. EA has also noted that the requirements to unlock certain PlayStyles will vary, with some top-tier PlayStyles requiring more time and effort to acquire than others.
Which player are you hoping to build an Evolution Chain for on day one? Let us know below, and stay tuned to the FUT.GG News page for all the latest FC 27 updates!