No crossplay, but cross-progression with VOLTA

It’s an endless drama: every year EA Sports releases a new FIFA, every year fans of Pro Clubs and VOLTA Football complain about not enough changes. For what feels like an eternity, the communities of the two game modes have felt neglected. And this time there was a lot of explosives again: One of the hottest new features, namely crossplay, is only reserved for the 1v1 game variants of Ultimate Team and Online Seasons. If you want to gamble with two or more people, and that across different platforms, you look stupid in the tube. The Twitter hashtag #SaveProClubs and an open letter from the players don’t help either.

Instead, EA Sports now wants to convince the player base with some other content. As part of a Deep Dive Trailer including a blog entry on the in-house website, the developers presented the most important adjustments to Pro Clubs and VOLTA Football that you can expect in FIFA 23 (buy now €69.99) should expect.

Reading recommendation: FIFA 23 career mode preview

Fun shared is fun doubled

Arguably the biggest is the introduction of cross-progression. While VOLTA Football and Pro Clubs were strictly separated from each other in the last three offshoots of the series, they are now closely linked. You collect game progress together in both of them: So if you complete a Pro Clubs league game, you get VOLTA Coins to buy new in-game items. If you play a round of VOLTA Battles, you will also earn XP for your Pro Clubs Avatar.

FIFA 23: All information about Pro Clubs and Volta Football. (4)

Source: EA Sports




In line with this, the creation and development of your Virtual Pro has also been revised: There are now not only new customization options such as tattoos or face painting. The level system in FIFA 23 also has 100 instead of the previous 25 ranks. The amount of experience points required to gain a rank has also been reduced. This ensures that the time between two activations is no longer so long. You’ll always be kept up with small rewards and skill points, making the ongoing grind far more satisfying. There is significantly less idle time, fewer waiting times for something to happen.

Accordingly, you also have four new perks to choose from, such as Interceptor, Poacher, Chasedown or Light Passes. With the latter, for example, you improve the ball control of your teammates. If they previously had problems processing your feeds, you can now boost their skills in this area a little.

In terms of graphics and gameplay, not too much is changing: Pro Clubs is also introducing HyperMotion 2.0 and augmented reality replays this year. You already know that from the other modes. 66 new skill games about dribbling, passing and shooting await you on the content side. Depending on how well you perform in them, you can collect experience points for your pro. You can compare your high score within the club’s internal leaderboard.

FIFA 23: All information about Pro Clubs and Volta Football. (5)

Source: EA Sports




Drop-in matches have been slightly reworked. In the future you will play in rotating jerseys and different stadiums to provide a little variety visually. In addition, a half now lasts only four minutes instead of the previous six. That gives things a little more momentum. If there is still no winner after this time, you no longer have to agree on an unsatisfactory draw, but can win a game in extra time with a golden goal.

EA Sports has also rebalanced match ratings to give more team focus. True to the motto: It takes more than one player to win. You no longer have to score as many goals as possible to go home with a good rating. If you play for the team, hold your position and help out with good tackles and passes, you will be rewarded for it. Top performers are highlighted in a new overview after a match. Here, individual performances of your fellow players are rewarded, such as the best mileage or passing accuracy.