What is FUT Birthday?
FUT Birthday is a promo that celebrates the anniversary of the introduction of the Ultimate Team game mode into the FIFA franchise all the way back in FIFA 09. Released annually since FIFA 14, FUT Birthday has become one of the most popular events in the FUT calendar, with a history of bringing fun, engaging, and sometimes bizarre, content with it.
Why is FUT Birthday so popular?
As it’s a special occasion in the FIFA calendar, EA loves to throw a bit of a party to celebrate the birth of the most popular mode in the game.
In previous years, FUT Birthday promos have featured boosted Items of some of the most popular players in football, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, and Heung Min Son all receiving FUT Birthday Items in the past few years, alongside special Items for popular players within the FIFA-community, such as Ferland Mendy, Silas Mvumpa, and Allan Saint-Maximin.
FUT Birthday also incorporates special themes around which the content is based, with recent years’ content featuring players with boosted Weak Foot and Skill Moves, as well as some interesting position switches, but mostly, FUT Birthday almost always includes a nod to some old FIFA favourites we all loved using in previous games, such as Seydou Doumbia, Víctor Ibarbo, and Fredy Guarín.
Usually a two-week promo, FUT Birthday brings with it Daily Login Bonus SBCs, Upgrade SBCs, Party Bag SBCs, and even daily Player SBCs some years too, to go alongside themed Objectives released over the course of the event.
There’s also usually a special, little present from EA to us too, with a customary free pack granted to everyone playing the game this year, the value of which will be determined by how many days you logged into FUT this year.
When does FUT Birthday start in FIFA 23?
Although FUT’s official “birthday” was technically on March 19th, 2009, the release date of the FUT Birthday promo doesn’t have a specific date for when it begins each year. However, looking at previous release dates for FUT Birthday, we can assume that it will come around the middle of March.
As the Fantasy FUT promo ends on March 17th, FUT Birthday in FIFA 23 is expected to begin on Friday, March 17th.
What is coming for FUT Birthday in FIFA 23?
Although specific details have yet to be officially revealed, FUT Birthday is usually a two-week-long promo, featuring 2 Teams of FUT Birthday players which’ll be released into Packs, as well as numerous FUT Birthday players exclusively available in Objectives and SBCs, so we can expect to see the same thing in FIFA 23.
With campaign themed Icons and Heroes, it is also possible we see new Icons and Heroes themed around FUT Birthday in FIFA 23.
As an example of what we could see in FIFA 23, here's what we got for FUT Birthday Team 1 in FIFA 22:
We will undoubtedly see the return of Upgrade SBCs, too, and you can be sure that we’ll see the return of plenty of your favourite players you’ve used over the past 14 years of FUT.
In terms of themes, the FUT Birthday promo has centred around giving players either a 5-Star Weak Foot or 5-Star Skill Moves, or in some cases both, as well as unique and game-changing position changes. Remember ST Virgil van Dijk and RM David Alaba from FIFA 19? Yep, that happened during FUT Birthday. What EA brings to the table in FIFA 23 remains to be seen, but as it’s the final year EA will be releasing a FIFA title with that name, I’m sure it’ll be something to get excited about.
Will FUT Birthday Swaps be in FIFA 23?
Although no details have been confirmed for what is to come, FUT Birthday could see the return of the ever-popular Token Swaps program, where EA tasks you with completing various Objectives and SBCs in order to unlock Tokens which can be submitted for rewards such as Packs, Special Player Items, and potentially ICONs as we’ve seen in Swaps programs so far in FIFA 23.
We haven’t seen a Swaps program since the Future Stars promo, and that Swaps program began in late January, so we are perhaps overdue for another one!
In FIFA 22’s iteration of FUT Birthday Swaps, the rewards (which you can see below) included multiple types of Packs, such as an 86+ x 7 Player Pack, and featured 3 different FUT Birthday players available exclusively in Swaps, Cristian Ansaldi, Jean-Paul Boëtius, and Ezequiel Ávila, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see rewards of similar calibre to be released this year too.
When will FUT Birthday Swaps come out in FIFA 23?
As previously mentioned, there’s no official news about whether FIFA 23 will feature FUT Birthday Swaps, but if we are to get FUT Birthday Swaps, we can expect the first Tokens to be released on the day the promo begins on Friday, March 17th.
Although, there is a slight chance that the first Tokens would arrive a couple of days beforehand, maybe even on Wednesday, March 15th, as a couple of Swaps campaigns this year have started a bit earlier than the promo start date, so keep your eyes peeled for them in the preceding days before March 17th!
FUT Birthday Leaks & Predictions for FIFA 23
There will undoubtedly be plenty of leaks for players, Objectives, SBCs, and other content heading our way for FUT Birthday circulating around online and on social media. You won't find them here though, we want fut.gg to stay spoiler free!
We have, however, put together a few names of players who could receive a FUT Birthday Item this year.
The first name that came to mind was Luis Díaz, who is yet to receive a Special Item so far this year, and although he’s already had a Special Item, albeit via a disappointing SBC, Iñaki Williams with a 5-star Weak Foot would be a popular choice, that’s if this year’s promo is based around 5-star Weak Foot and Skills upgrades.
Guillermo Ochoa has recently moved to Serie A club Salernitana, so it would be amazing to see him with some kind of Special Item this year, or maybe they could give Gianluigi Buffon one too if we’re talking about goalkeepers. Radja Nainggolan, who recently moved to Serie B, is a FIFA favourite so he could be there too.
It’s a long shot, but Lukas Podolski is still in the game and he’s had some incredible Items in previous FIFAs so he’d be a great addition to the promo.
What are you hoping to see in this year’s FUT Birthday celebration? Are there any players you'd love to see included in this year's FUT Birthday promo? Let us know in the comments!
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