EA FC 26 release date and PC system requirements announced
EA has officially announced that EA FC 26 will launch on PC on September 26th. The news arrived alongside the first gameplay trailer and, perhaps most notably for PC gamers, the official system requirements, which look suspiciously familiar.
To address long-standing community feedback, EA is introducing two distinct ways to play the game: Authentic Mode and Competitive Mode. Authentic Mode is designed to provide a more realistic football experience, making it the default for offline play. Competitive Mode, on the other hand, is all about fast, fluid, and responsive gameplay, tuned specifically for the online game modes.
Career mode is also getting a new feature called Manager Live Challenges. This will introduce dynamic “what if” scenarios and challenges based on real-world football storylines. These can range from short, quick-play events to multi-season arcs, offering rewards as you complete them throughout the year.
For PC players, the hardware barrier to entry remains unchanged. The system requirements for FC 26 are identical to those for FC 25. You’ll need at least an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i5-6600K, 8 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti or AMD RX 570. The recommended specs call for a Ryzen 7 2700X or Core i7-6700, 12 GB of RAM, and a GTX 1660 or RX 5600 XT. While this means anyone who could run last year’s game is good to go, it also confirms that we shouldn’t expect any major graphical leaps on the PC platform this year. The detailed system requirements can be found below:
MINIMUM
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11 – 64-Bit (Latest Update)
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel Core i5 6600k
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD RX 570 or Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 100 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX: 12 Compatible video card or equivalent (feature level 12_0)
RECOMMENDED
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11 – 64-Bit (Latest Update)
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X or Intel Core i7 6700
- Memory: 12 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD RX 5600 XT or Nvidia GTX 1660
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 100 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX: 12 Compatible video card or equivalent (feature level 12_0)
EA FC 26 is now available to pre-order, with the standard edition costing £69.99/€69.99/$69.99. This version includes the game, a 92+ Icon player for EA FC 25, 3 Icon players for Manager Career, a 5-star coach in Manager Career, a 5-Star youth scout in Manager Career, Manager Live Challenge content, an archetype unlock consumable, and 2x Double AXP for 10 matches. The Ultimate Edition is also available to pre-order for £89.99/€89.99/$89.99. It includes an EA FC 26 Icon player, an EA FC 25 Exclusive Player EVO, an EA FC 25 93+ ICON Pick (1 of 5), up to 7 days early access, the season 1 premium pass, up to 6000 FC points over 2 months, an additional Evo slot, and more.
KitGuru says: Are you planning on getting EA FC 26 at launch?
