Gamers, early access for EA Sports FC 27 has been live for just two days, and a bug-like exploit has already been discovered in Squad Battles that could compromise the game's fairness. It's not about having an overpowered squad; rather, players can tweak match settings to heavily favor the attacking side, making high-difficulty offline matches incredibly easy.
For players aiming to crack the Top 100 in FC 27, this directly affects the competition for rewards.
Tweaking the Settings
Before entering Squad Battles, players can go into the game and match settings to turn off Offsides, Handballs, and Injuries, while setting Referee Strictness to Very Lenient.
While these options are intended as simple aids, combining them produces unexpected results.
Defensively, when the CPU breaks through for a one-on-one or a counter-attack, players can foul freely to halt the play without worrying much about red cards, penalties, or other repercussions.
On the attack, simply placing a fast striker up front and repeatedly using through balls allows you to keep playing even if the striker is in an offside position - the play won't be whistled dead.
This makes it easy for strikers to repeatedly find themselves in one-on-one situations and score using techniques like low driven shot.
Can a budget squad climb the rankings?
Crucially, this strategy doesn't require a star-studded lineup; even with a Road to Glory style squad, you can gain a significant advantage on Legendary difficulty.
If your resources in EA FC 27 are a bit better, you could even attempt Ultimate difficulty.
For players familiar with Player Lock feature, the attack becomes even more straightforward if your midfielder has Incisive Pass ability and your striker has high pace - 90 or above.
As you can imagine, this is bound to shake up Squad Battles ranking landscape.
Achieving a high rank or making the Top 100 used to require consistently beating high-difficulty CPU opponents through skill, squad quality, and match control.
But now? A specific combination of settings can drastically lower the difficulty and the barrier to entry for the leaderboard. Is FIFA 27 still fair?
Impact on Other Players
It is important to note that Squad Battles is not merely a casual mode; every year, players seriously analyze its difficulty, gameplay mechanics, and strategies for climbing the rankings, all with the goal of cracking the Top 100 or securing higher-tier rewards.
Rewards during the early stages of FUT 27 are particularly crucial; resources such as FC 27 coins and player cards significantly influence your progression in the game.
If some players can easily rack up high scores by exploiting settings - such as disabling offside rules - then those relying on genuine skill to climb the leaderboard risk being pushed out, thereby missing out on the rewards they rightfully earned.
While this bug might lower the difficulty of Evolutions for players looking to upgrade their cards, it undermines the value of the mode for those who treat Squad Battles as their primary way to play.
The risk of displacing dedicated players via this exploit is especially high during the game's launch phase.
This can trigger a vicious cycle: the greater the initial advantage gained, the harder it becomes for others to catch up.
Is it intentional?
We currently do not know whether this is a standard glitch or a feature intentionally included in FC 27.
However, if it is indeed a deliberate design choice, the developers failed to inform players aiming for the top ranks; consequently, those who prepared diligently for the first week of competition find themselves at a disadvantage without even realizing it.
If it is merely an unforeseen bug, it erodes player confidence in the game's ongoing maintenance - particularly for a title that typically sees only incremental updates year over year.
Regardless of the cause, one thing is certain: the fairness of the first week's Squad Battles rewards has already been compromised.
Further Issues
Additionally, players may feel that FUT 27 is becoming increasingly easy and less rewarding in terms of a sense of accomplishment.
In previous iterations, a Top 100 finish in Weekend League carried far more prestige; only the absolute best players worldwide made the cut, giving high-level players clear, ambitious goals to strive for.
The removal of Weekend League Top 100 leaderboard had already disappointed some players, and now, similar issues are surfacing in Squad Battles.
Looking at squad building, the old green links mechanism and Chemistry Styles used to offer a wide range of lineup possibilities, yet nowadays, players' squads are becoming increasingly uniform.
If everyone in FIFA 27 can easily obtain elite player cards - like Ronaldinho or Zidane - or effortlessly secure top-tier rewards, then truly skilled players will lose much of their motivation to play.
While the game would certainly remain playable, the drive to pursue those elite-level goals would likely diminish.
If this specific setup persists into the official release of FC 27, the competitive environment for climbing Squad Battles leaderboards will deteriorate further.
For the sake of the player experience, the developers really need to clarify as soon as possible whether this is an intended mechanic or an exploit, and state how they plan to address it; otherwise, FC 27 risks losing many players who love Squad Battles mode.
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