Why FC 26’s January Numbers Should Worry EA Despite Strong Reviews

The downfall of EA FC titles has become an industry trend for the last couple of years. A few months after the initial release, gamers have already lost interest and are looking forward to next year's title. And that's exactly what happens with EA FC 26, but this time, it faces its fate way sooner than expected.

The current FC 26 Player Count is solid proof of that phenomenon, with, according to Steam data, the FC 26 peak Player Count has reached only 100,753. Honestly, no one expected this dip so quickly, especially after January, which is usually considered the peak FC season due to winter database updates and arrival of seasonal promos, the peak season for EA FC titles. On that note, this article discloses the current dip in EA FC 26 Player Count and compares the number with its predecessors.

EA FC's Major Dip In Number Proves Players Have Finally Had Enough

While we've mentioned how EA FC 26 has seen a major dip in numbers, it was all hunky dory during its release. The developers at EA Sports have promised a completely new EA FC title with much better AI mechanics, responsive gameplay, and many more aspects. Well, it did hit the popularity in terms of numbers, and averaged a Metacritic score of 77. Apparently, it was the best-reviewed EA FC piece.

Players had high hopes with FC 26. However, similar to every other year, players started to showcase their frustration over time. Gradually, the released content seems to lose its relevance. They complained about the lack of engaging content, overpriced SBCs, and much more as the primary reasons. If we compare it in terms of numbers with the previous iteration EA FC pieces, we can see the massive dip.

Based on official Steamdb data, while both FC 24 and FC 25 had 110,026 and 107,359 peak players, the 2026 FC 26 Player Count (Peak) on Steam barely touched 100k. On the other hand, FC 26 Twitch Viewers are also not something to be proud of. While the game only has 16k average viewers according to TwitchTracker, its predecessors (EA FC 24 and EA FC 25) featured around 38k and 51k viewers during January's TOTY promo.

During the same duration, EA FC 26 January numbers have become noticeably poor. Although the devs have been pushing content updates, including the recent FC 26 Title Update Version 1.4.3, the numbers have yet to take a rise.

Fans Criticise EA With FC 26 Coming Under Severe Backlash

As discussed, EA's downfall is certainly a classic phenomenon, and no one is actually surprised by it. However, a major surprise was how poorly the recently introduced TOTY event performed. The TOTY event, since its introduction, has always been one of the sought-after events in the FC26 calendar.

One of the popular content creators, @aa9skilzz, took this matter to X, showcasing his frustration over the latest iteration of the game. He also highlighted that EA nerfed the rewards, with the EVOs being nothing special, leading to this backlash from the community.

Another prominent creator, @ivanlapanje (better known as Boras), mentioned FC 26 as “store-pack-fest-disaster” in one of his X posts. Despite spending a ton of money himself, he actually took the free-to-play community's side, towards gamers who rely on free packs and SBCs. According to Boras, the only way to increase the FC 26 Player Count is to make FUT absolutely free to play.

While every other creators are quite concerned about the numbers, it should serve as a wake-up call for EA. In a world where titles like eFootball, UFL, and other virtual football-sims are gaining popularity, EA must think about introducing content that benefits the community and not just fills their own pockets.

And that's all we had to discuss on the current state of FC 26 Player Count. If you're a regular EA FC gamer, then check our coverage of the upcoming FC 26 TOTW 23 Predictions.