Last week, Nintendo fans finally got their hands on the EA FC 26 open beta for the Switch 2. This was the moment longtime FIFA/EA FC players on Nintendo had been waiting for: A proper, feature-complete version of the game instead of the “legacy edition” rosters-in-a-trenchcoat treatment.
And, to EA’s credit, the Switch 2 build of EA FC 26 is no stripped-down port. Everything you’d expect from the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC versions is here — gameplay features, modes, bells, whistles, the whole lot. It’s a night-and-day improvement from the last decade of “Nintendo FC” entries, which barely changed year-to-year outside of the roster.
So yes, this is good news. But… there’s also the part where the game runs at 30 frames per second.
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If you’re unfamiliar with why that matters, here’s the short version: Higher frame rates (60fps being the standard on consoles) make animations smoother, reduce input lag, and generally help everything feel snappier and more responsive. It’s not just an “eye candy” thing. In competitive play — which is kinda the core of EA FC‘s Ultimate Team-centric model — the extra smoothness can make the difference between reacting in time to a through ball in behind or watching it skip past your defender as you helplessly get on the right stick to adjust your keeper’s position.
Now, 30fps isn’t “unplayable” by any means. Plenty of games run at that frame rate and feel fine. But it is a noticeable downgrade from the aforementioned current-gen platforms. It’s also the kind of thing that — in the era of YouTube frame-by-frame analysis by channels like Digital Foundry — tends to get pounced on pretty quickly. And, unsurprisingly, it did.
The question is whether most Switch 2 players will care, or if they’ll happily take a minor performance bump in order to stay lockstep with other current-gen platforms in terms of features. Because, let’s be honest, for years, Nintendo fans have been told they can’t have nice things when it comes to EA FC. Hell, even Nintendo is kinda bullying them by charging a whopping $500 for the console and $80 for some of its games. But, in terms of EA FC, they now have most of those nice things. On the Switch 2 release, at least. Sorry, OG Switch owners.
EA FC 26 will release on September 26, 2025. Frame rate debates will likely start five minutes after that.
Published: Aug 15, 2025 04:23 pm