Introduction

FIFA 23, the final installment in EA Sports' long-standing partnership with FIFA, aimed to deliver a monumental farewell. With enhancements in HyperMotion2 technology, refined gameplay, and expanded features in Ultimate Team and Career Mode, FIFA 23 promised fans the most complete football simulation experience yet. However, despite improvements, one significant area remained plagued with legacy issues: Career Mode. While often overshadowed by the glitz of Ultimate Team, Career Mode is a beloved feature for fans who prefer immersive, offline managerial experiences. This article takes an in-depth look at the shortcomings of FIFA 23’s Career Mode, dissecting its problems across various dimensions—design, realism, user experience, and more—to reveal why many fans feel EA let this cornerstone mode stagnate.

1. The Illusion of Progress: Career Mode’s Recycled Features

While FIFA 23 marketed a number of “new” features for Career Mode, most of these additions turned out to be superficial tweaks or recycled content from previous versions. Player conversations, press conferences, and transfer negotiations felt eerily familiar—unchanged from FIFA 20 or even FIFA 19.

The addition of playable highlights was pitched as revolutionary, allowing players to simulate matches but jump into key moments. However, this mechanic often felt random and stripped down the immersion and tactical planning Career Mode players enjoy. For a franchise known for innovation, Career Mode in FIFA 23 offered very little in terms of depth or genuine novelty.

2. Broken Promises: AI Behavior and Match Simulation

Despite technological advances like HyperMotion2, the AI in Career Mode continues to make baffling decisions during both gameplay and simulation. AI managers still make poor tactical choices, rotate squads unrealistically, and fail to adjust their approach during matches.

Simulated games often yield unrealistic results, such as relegation-bound teams defeating top-table clubs with ease. Even with a well-balanced squad, players find themselves suffering from erratic results due to flawed match engine logic. This breaks immersion and penalizes those who prefer managing from the sidelines rather than playing every match.

Tactical AI Woes

• Inconsistent formations

• Lack of adaptive strategies

• Over-reliance on default tactics

Simulation Issues

• Unrealistic scorelines

• Poor player form reflection

• No contextual match adaptation

3. Youth Academy: A Great Idea Poorly Executed

FIFA’s Youth Academy system could be a franchise-defining feature if fully realized. In FIFA 23, the idea is still compelling—scout promising youngsters, develop them over time, and build a legacy. However, its execution leaves much to be desired.

Player potential and growth feel arbitrary, with bizarre physical stats on generated players (e.g., 6’7” wingers with 90 pace). Moreover, the academy lacks depth in training logic and player personality, turning what could be a long-term strategic layer into a shallow and repetitive chore.

Common Youth System Flaws

• Unnatural player builds

• Overpowered stats in unrealistic combinations

• Lack of true progression logic

4. Manager Customization: Style Over Substance

FIFA 23 introduced more customization for manager avatars—clothing, appearance, and nationality—but failed to add meaningful managerial progression or RPG-style systems. While it’s nice to dress your manager in a designer suit, the gameplay implications of manager identity remain non-existent.

There’s no tangible development for your manager over time, such as unlocking new tactics, gaining reputation, or negotiating influence. Manager mode still lacks the nuanced growth and personal stakes found in titles like Football Manager.

5. Transfer Market Logic: The Wild West of Negotiations

One of the most critical elements of Career Mode—transfers—remains plagued with illogical scenarios. AI clubs accept lowball offers for star players, or demand astronomical fees for average ones. Some top players are left to rot on the bench at big clubs, untouched even with max budgets.

Loan deals and swap offers also suffer from poor AI judgment. Even when offering better players or terms, negotiations often stall due to nonsensical reasons. This leads to a frustrating, unrealistic market that lacks the strategic complexity real-world managers face.

6. Financial Management: Too Much Cash, No Real Stakes

Career Mode showers you with unrealistic financial resources, especially when managing top-tier teams. In FIFA 23, even mid-table clubs often start with tens of millions in the transfer kitty, reducing the need for careful planning or long-term financial vision.

There’s no club debt system, sponsorship planning, or financial fair play implications. This strips away the rewarding challenge of building a dynasty from the ground up. With virtually unlimited resources and no consequences, Career Mode becomes a sandbox rather than a simulation.

Missing Financial Features

• Sponsorship dynamics

• Budget adjustments based on performance

• Infrastructure investments

7. Player Morale and Development: Superficial Systems

Player morale and development mechanics in FIFA 23 still function on a very surface level. Morale is influenced by match performance and playing time but lacks deeper psychological modeling. Team chemistry, locker room dynamics, and rivalries are absent.

Development plans are somewhat improved over past titles, but remain simplistic. Players can only switch roles within rigid templates, and growth is linear regardless of context or form. There's little sense of narrative or emergent behavior, leading to a stale progression loop.

8. Matchday Atmosphere and Presentation Gaps

Despite visual and audio enhancements, FIFA 23’s matchday atmosphere in Career Mode fails to reflect the stakes of certain matches. Whether it’s a title-deciding fixture or a relegation battle, the crowd noise, commentary, and cutscenes remain largely unchanged.

There are few to no storylines that dynamically emerge during the season. Unlike in real life, there’s no “final day drama” or “Cinderella story” build-up. Presentation does little to heighten drama or immerse players in their managerial journey.

9. Lack of Innovation in Long-Term Save Experience

One of Career Mode’s biggest failings is its lack of sustainability in long-term saves. After 3–5 seasons, many players report that the game world becomes stale: top teams get relegated, top scorers are random regen players, and the transfer market becomes bizarre.

There’s little reason to keep playing beyond the fifth season. No historical stats, player legacy tracking, or hall-of-fame features are present to reward long-term management. The world-building and simulation mechanics simply aren’t deep enough to keep the experience fresh over time.

10. Comparing to the Competition: Why Fans Look Elsewhere

The persistent issues in FIFA 23’s Career Mode become even more glaring when compared to rival football management games like Football Manager 2023. While FM focuses on data depth, realism, and emergent storytelling, FIFA continues to emphasize flash over substance.

Many Career Mode players have migrated to other titles seeking more strategic control and less arcade-style execution. EA’s focus on monetizable modes like Ultimate Team has led many to believe that Career Mode is no longer a development priority.

What Football Manager Gets Right

• Detailed player development paths

• Complex club finances

• Media and narrative elements

• Tactical depth and match-day decisions

Conclusion

FIFA 23’s Career Mode remains a frustrating paradox: full of potential, but stymied by neglect and half-hearted execution. While EA added a few quality-of-life features, they ultimately failed to address the core issues that have plagued Career Mode for years—AI incompetence, lack of depth, financial simplicity, and unrealistic progression systems. For fans of immersive single-player football management, FIFA 23 offers a skeleton of what could have been. Until EA reinvests meaningfully in this mode, Career Mode will remain FIFA’s most disappointing underdog story.