Ultimate Team’s FUT market is always a feature players are trying to read – predicting trends, investing in players – but in FIFA 22 there’s going to be a big shakeup of how it works.
EA SPORTS have confirmed a number of Ultimate Team features for their upcoming football title already, including new ways to find teammates in Co-Op, a redesigned FUT Champions Weekend League system, and different ways to rank up in Division Rivals.
However, as is the case with these Pitch Notes deep dives – posted every year by developers to explain what’s going to be different – some smaller details can have a big impact on the experience.
In the case of the FUT market, there’s no doubt that major changes to how it fluctuates are on the way.
FIFA 22 FUT market changes coming
On the FUT market, players can buy and sell different cards – some of which are players, while others are managers and items.
In the case of players, there are routine releases of cards and rewards each week that always give the marketplace a refresh, where prices can change dramatically. Well, in FIFA 22, you might not have to worry as much about that.
In a blog post on their official FIFA 22 website, EA confirmed a big change to how FUT Champs rewards are collected. Previously, they were routinely released at the same time every Thursday, just days before players could dive into another Weekend League binge.
FIFA 22 FUT Champs rewards changes
This year, though, it’s very different. They said: “One of our goals with the introduction of the Play-Offs and Finals was to rebalance the rewards across both competition stages while lowering the overall match requirements.
“When you start the Play-Offs, you are competing for the first set of rewards and a chance to qualify for the Finals, where you can further increase your rewards.”
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“In the Finals, where you finish will decide your additional rewards. If you finish all of your matches in the Finals, you can claim your rewards instantly. If you still have matches to be played, your rewards will be granted at the end of the competition, based on where you finished.”
This means that, naturally, not as many of the same cards pulled in the rewards packs for completing a FUT Champions Weekend League set of games will be auctioned at the same time.
While there may still be a stronger market during weekends when players decide to switch up their starting XI’s, the usual Thursday crash won’t exist anymore – which is something the community has been asking for.
Community reactions
A number of avid FIFA 22 players and traders have reacted positively to the change, seen below.
🟠🚨 BREAKING – FUT Champs rewards are INSTANTLY accessible once you hit each rank 🏆
That’s a big change 😳
— Donk (@DonkTrading) August 10, 2021
We don’t have to wait until Thursday for Fut champs rewards and I’m very happy about it 🥰
— FG (@ThisIsFG_) August 10, 2021
Claiming rewards as soon as you finish FUT champs is a huge W 😍
— FUT Rory (@FUT_Rory) August 10, 2021
On the surface, it looks to be a very positive change that reflects the wants and needs of the player base.
Whether it works out as they would hope remains to be seen.