FIFA 21 leak claims EA are planning to scrap Ultimate Team Fitness cards

EA SPORTS could be set to finally do away with FIFA’s divisive Ultimate Team fitness cards in FIFA 21, according to new rumors. The question is, will the FIFA publishers follow through with the long-demanded change?

FUT has plenty of “stocking stuffers” in its purchasable FIFA Packs, including training boosts, position swaps, player contracts, and fitness cards. There’s also items and staff cards, which often fill more than three-quarters of any one pack.

The most divisive ‘pack filler’ in Ultimate Team’s eleven-year history has, without a doubt, been fitness cards. FIFA 20 actually launched with a “fitness glitch” that all-but voided the feature, and some FUT fans still regard those early release months as the “greatest ever” period for the mode.

FIFA 21 could dump Ultimate Team fitness cards

Those same fans will be ecstatic, then, to hear EA SPORTS are now tossing up the possibility of axing the divisive fitness system altogether in FIFA 21, according to new rumors.

The potential leak, which was shared on Reddit, also mentioned a “set amount of games” for Division Rivals each week. This was also suggested by an EA insider, who has been sharing FIFA 21 Beta screenshots on Twitter this week.

Dexerto understands if these major fitness changes truly are locked in behind the scenes, the swap would come into effect when EA’s 2020 title releases in October. FIFA 20 would not be affected by these planned changes.

The change certainly makes sense too. EA stripped “fitness” out of their NHL ‘HUT’ mode years ago. Madden’s Ultimate Team went in the same direction; MUT now simply refreshes player stamina back to the max ‘99’ after every match.

• Read more: FIFA 21 dev teases ‘secret clues’ hidden in July trailer

EA has also gone one step further with MUT, removing contract cards as well. In their place, Madden players simply cop a 10% transaction fee on all market sales. That’s double the 5% surcharge in place in FIFA and the NHL series.

Unfortunately, there’s no way of telling just how true these rumors are until EA drops new gameplay updates. We’re expecting the publishers to unveil new FIFA 21  changes this month though, so an official announcement shouldn’t be far off.

The full FIFA 21 release should be available to play through early access in late September. It will then officially be released on October 9. Keep up to date with all the news and updates on the 2020 release on Twitter @UltimateTeamUK.