Two new Icons have been confirmed for EA Sports FC 27, with Brazilian centre-back Lucio and Manchester City legend Yaya Toure upgraded from Hero status. Both players have received overall rating boosts, and they will be included in the pool of player items that gamers who pre-order one of the game's special editions may earn.
Pre-order bonus details
Purchases of either the Ultimate edition or Ultimate Plus edition include a reward of an International Icon player item rated 85 overall or above. The confirmed duo join the list of potential rewards, offering players the chance to add these upgraded stars to their Ultimate Team squads.
Toure leaps from 87 overall to 89, while Lucio is up to 90 overall from his previous rating of 89. The upgrade means more than just an overall rating increase, as Hero cards offer a chemistry boost to FUT squads in the same league and nation, whereas Icon cards link to every player regardless of their league and nation.
More Icon ratings revealed
The confirmation comes after leaks suggested that Toure's City teammate, Sergio Aguero, would make a return to Ultimate Team as an Icon, too. The ratings of three returning Icons with history in the Premier League have also been revealed: Bastian Schweinsteiger at 89 overall, Ruud Gullit at 91 overall, and Fernando Torres at 89 overall.
Pre-order numbers lag
However, it also comes as Steam figures reveal historically poor pre-order numbers. According to SteamDB, EA FC 27 ranks lower on Steam charts for its first week of pre-orders than any of its predecessors since FIFA 21. FC 27 is placed at 45th on Steam, compared to 23rd for EA FC 26 and 31st for EA FC 25. The other, older titles released by EA Sports ranked as follows: EA FC 24 at 21st, FIFA 23 at 6th, FIFA 22 at 10th, and FIFA 21 between 10th and 15th.
Fans on Reddit were unsurprised by the low number of PC pre-orders. One wrote: "Not surprising considering A) the negative press around the game and B) the fact that the audience on PC have access to mods that can improve old titles. Console pre-orders will forever be high, as EA have the market cornered for football experiences on console. Efootball is terrible and FM is a different type of game."
Another Redditor attributed the drop in interest to two factors. They added: "I feel there's a growing consciousness to the cycle of FC/FIFA titles now and there's not really any reason to get the preorder benefits or jump into the game early. The power creep is so ridiculous that the preorder benefits don't matter anymore, you can jump in at any time and you aren't really playing catch-up, you just jump on wherever the power curve is at the time. I've played most titles since 06, and only played the most recent FC because it was free. I had a pretty strong team within about 4 days and playing champs without any need to even trade. Also, the game goes on sale so quickly after release."
