Rejoice, a new FC 26 update will soon end its kick off goal nightmare

It seems to be an impossible task to launch a new EA FC (and formerly FIFA) game without there being some kind of overpowered strategy or exploit to tap into early doors. Arguably the most common is some form of 'kick off glitch' - a particular pattern of movement, team tactic, or style of player can make it extremely easy to score immediately after conceding or starting a half. In FC 26, the kick off curse is back - while not quite as severe as it has been in previous iterations of the sports game, it's been one of the main causes of frustration for players like myself. I've got some good news though: EA has confirmed it's taking action in an upcoming update.

In FC 26, defensive positioning is the main reason why goals are so much easier to score straight after a kick off. In open play, both teams are a lot more fluid, with players reacting to each others' positions, but from a kick off, players are more rigidly placed in whatever formation you've chosen. That makes it pretty easy for one or two of your attacking players to exploit gaps in between your opponent's defenders, often resulting in a goal.

In a message on the EA Sports FC Direct Communication X account, EA confirms that it's aware of the matter and that changes are coming soon.

"We see your feedback coming in around kick off goals and we're working on defensive positioning improvements that would only take effect around kick offs," the post reads. "Right now we're targeting this update for early October, and we'll let you know if anything changes."

So, within the next couple of weeks, we should have a fix for the 'kick off glitch.' It'll be interesting to see how EA manages to improve player positioning for kick off situations without letting it impact the rest of the match - my guess is that your players will be more compactly placed in their formation, but we'll see what it comes up with.

Personally, I think FC 26 has some of the most solid gameplay foundations that we've had in years - I know not everyone will agree with me, but it's felt great so far. The kick off situation is probably the biggest gameplay issue we've faced so far, and as I mentioned at the top, it's not even been that severe in comparison to similar exploits from previous years. There's always the danger, though, that too much tinkering on EA's end will ruin the feel of the game - we've seen it happen plenty of times before - but I'm hopeful lessons have been learned for FC 26.

Remember, if you're sweating it out in Ultimate Team, check out our FC 26 codes guide for some of the best tactics and team setups. If Career Mode is more your bag, here are all the FC 26 Wonderkids you should be signing.

What are your early impressions of the new EA FC game? Swing by the PCGamesN Discord server to let us know.