FIFA 18

How Icons Changed FIFA 18 Ultimate Team

FIFA 18 launched in 2017, so the Icon reveals described above are now part of the game's history rather than fresh news. They still matter, though. Icons set the template that later FIFA titles and EA Sports FC followed, and they shaped how players thought about building a squad in Ultimate Team.

From Legends to Icons

Legend cards had previously been exclusive to Xbox versions of Ultimate Team. Icons replaced them and were made available across the supported platforms. The other big change was that many Icons came in several versions instead of one fixed card. A base version could be joined by stronger variants that reflected different stages of a player's career. That gave long-term players a reason to chase upgrades and gave each retired star a clearer place in the game's economy.

Why chemistry mattered

Icons were designed to fit into almost any squad. Because an Icon could link with players from many leagues and nations, one card could hold a mixed team together. That made a player like Del Piero valuable for more than his ratings. Squad builders had to weigh his link value against the coins or rewards they would spend to get him.

Getting Icons

Players usually got Icons in one of three ways:

• Opening packs, which was down to luck.
• Buying them on the transfer market, where prices could be very high.
• Completing Squad Building Challenges, which asked for sets of cards in exchange for a guaranteed reward.

SBCs in particular changed how people valued ordinary cards. Many low-rated players gained a use as challenge fodder.

Playing FIFA 18 today

Official servers for older FIFA titles are eventually shut down, so the online Ultimate Team side of FIFA 18 should not be treated as a live mode. Offline modes such as Career Mode and kick-off matches stay playable on the original hardware. Community members still discuss FIFA 18 for its gameplay, its squad files and the modding scene on PC.

If you want to tinker with kits, rosters or faces, start with the tutorials section. The tools page covers editors and utilities. Before sharing files, read the forum rules so your release respects copyright and community guidelines.