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EA has revealed EA Sports FC 26 will have a big limitation on Nintendo’s consoles.
Community manager EA_Vendcera made a few announcements on the EA forums. We’ll go through them one by one below.
Switch Upgrade
If you purchase the Nintendo Switch version, you will get a discount (based on your country and currency) towards the Nintendo Switch 2 version.
Once again, this only applies for digital purchases through the Nintendo eShop.
This is some good news for gamers who still have the original Switch. It does mean that there’s a different version for the Switch 2, and they can look forward to a substantial increase in performance if they buy it.
The original Switch version could also get increased performance if you load it on the Switch 2. But we assume sports gamers will opt for the best version they can get.
We should not expect EA to give that Switch 2 version away. But EA is willing to be generous in the other direction
Switch 2 Giveaway
If you purchase the Nintendo Switch 2 version via the Nintendo eShop you will get the Nintendo Switch version at no additional cost.
Please note that this is only available for digital purchases through the Nintendo eShop. It also won’t be available in Asia.
As we pointed out above, sports gamers will want the Switch 2 version if they can get it. But in this scenario, they do get a free game if they also have a Switch.
This will definitely raise the question if someone can buy the Switch 2 version, and share the Switch version to a friend so they can play together. The Virtual Game Card system could facilitate that.
Unfortunately, we know that isn’t possible either.
The Crossplay Issue
Keep in mind that there is no crossplay functionality between the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 versions, as they are different games.
Owners of the Nintendo Switch 2 version will need to install the Nintendo Switch version to play with friends on the Nintendo Switch.
EA Sports FC games have cross play on all the other platforms, between PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, Epic Game Store, and EA Play. Only the Nintendo versions of these games don’t get to join in on cross play.
We don’t know why cross play is not possible on the Nintendo versions of these games. We know that Switch and Switch 2 can have cross play between other platforms and each other. The big live service giants like Fortnite and Apex Legends prove that.
At the same time, we don’t know if this is an issue that EA could fix sometime down the line. If EA Sports devs just need experience with the Switch 2, or they need revenue to add to the budget, maybe we will get cross play for that platform eventually.
But for now, we know sports gamers who want an experience in between the more powerful consoles and their phone can choose to go Nintendo too.
