Electronic Arts’ New ‘FC26’ Includes ‘First-Ever’ High Contrast Mode, more accessibility Features

Electronic Arts (EA) this week published so-called “pitch notes” for the latest edition of its forthcoming EA Sports’ soccer title, FC26. The game comes out on September 25.

The post’s authors are a trio of FC26 designers and producers in Keegan Sabatino, Gigo Navarro, and Thomas Caleffi. They write the team’s overarching goal with the new version of the game is “[making] gameplay better,” which has been achieved, they said, by focusing on three key areas: (1) competitive and authentic gameplay; (2) gameplay fundamentals; and (3) features and updates inspired by listening to user feedback.

“FC26 is powered by your feedback, and we aim to make it feel more responsive, rewarding, and enjoyable,” the team said of the game’s muse during development.

Most pertinent to me, of course, is accessibility. The team writes it has “worked closely with our Accessibility Design Council to introduce a range of new accessibility features” to FC26, with the marquee feature being a high-contrast mode. EA touts the addition is “one of the first-ever sports titles” to include such functionality. The all-new high contrast mode is described as “[increasing] the visual separation between footballers, the pitch, and other key gameplay elements, making action clearer and more visible to those who need it,” with EA adding the mode should prove especially helpful to blind and low vision gamers who “find it challenging to track fast-paced gameplay.” Moreover, high contrast mode is highly customizable; according to EA, users can choose whether to apply the increased contrast to a player’s entire body or just their kit, for example. Additionally, there’s a Pitch Saturation Slider that people can fiddle with to “adjust the intensity of the pitch colors, helping you focus on the most important parts of the game.” The feature’s raison d’être is characterized by EA as “[reducing] visual clutter and make gameplay more comfortable for everyone.”

Beyond high contrast mode, EA notes other accessibility features for FC26 include an “accessibility boot flow screen” that, similar to how Apple devices work, gives people the chance to toggle on whatever accommodation(s) they need to accessibly play the game, as well as improved, more configurable captions (or subtitles, as EA says).

FC26 will be compatible with PlayStations 4 and 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and PC, as well as cloud gaming services such as Amazon’s Luna.