FIFA 21 Title Update 3: Changes to Ultimate Team, Career Mode, and gameplay tweaks

FIFA 21 has been out officially for just under a week but the devs are hard at working on improving the game with the latest patch Title Update 3 rolling out on PC today, with PS4 and Xbox One expected in the coming days.

(Picture: EA Sports)

Largely a bug fix and quality of life patch there are changes to FIFA Ultimate, Career mode and some minor gameplay tweaks.

There is plenty for players to chew over in the patch notes below but some of the most prominent game play changes include:

Increased Competitor Mode difficulty: This change is most impactful when the CPU AI is defending counter attacks.

The following Skill Moves would not be consistently performed as requested:

• Sombrero Flick.
• Step Overs when standing.
• The combination of the Ball Roll into the Scoop Turn.

Slowed down the Elastico Skill Move:

The impact of this change is most noticeable when the Elastico is chained multiple times.

FIFA 21 Title Update 3 patch notes

The following information has been provided by the EA SPORTS FIFA blog, which sent out a new post on October 15. FIFA 21 Update 3 is available, for now at least, to download on PC but will later roll out across all platforms.

Kick Off

Addressed the following issues:

• When viewing replays during a match played with Artificial Turf enabled, some kits were incorrectly displaying.
• Inconsistent capitalization of some player names.
• When selecting a Kick Off VOLTA FOOTBALL 5 vs 5 match, the Miami and New York stadiums were incorrectly available.

FIFA Ultimate Team

Made the following changes:

• Added the ability to see all owned Position Modifiers when applying a Position Modifier consumable on a selected Player Item.
• Added a shortcut to Transfer Targets on the Squad Transfer Market screen.
• Added a UI indicator to note which Kit is already selected in Stadium customization Match Kit.

Addressed the following issues:

• After using Buy Now on an Item on the Transfer Market, and selecting the option to Assign the Item, the player was incorrectly sent to a limited version of the Transfer Market page that the Item was won on.
  • Corresponding EASF Tracker Card: https://trello.com/c/lZgjjMON
• When attempting to scroll back to the first option on the Play menu, after scrolling to the last one, the first pair of options would get stuck off screen.
• When swapping Player Items on the Squad Transfer Market screen after adjusting a bid on the radial menu, the option to make a Bid lost functionality.
• After scoring a goal, the FUT Player Item that displays on the pitch was sometimes missing letters and/or numbers.
  • Corresponding EASF Tracker card: https://trello.com/c/he6gNUiG
• When a Player Item was selected on the Squad Screen, and the player tabbed over to the Club screen, using the Preview Selection resulted in the originally selected Player Item being deselected.
  • Corresponding EASF Tracker card: https://trello.com/c/HtmhR5vf
• After completing a Squad Building Challenge with an Item reward in FUT, the player was not taken directly to the New Items screen.
  • Corresponding EASF Tracker card: https://trello.com/c/8GUf0HnU
• The on screen elements that displayed following the completion of a Squad Building Challenge did not run at the correct speed.
• In Co-Op Squad Battles, the Captain would see the second player’s Club Badge in the Pause menu instead of the opposing team’s.
• Objectives screens were displaying at a slower than expected speed.
• The Club Badge was displayed as a grey placeholder image on the Single Player Draft pre match screen.
• The Training Celebration displayed an incorrect preview animation in the Customize Stadium screen.
• Division Rivals Placement progress earned through Squad Battles did not display on the Division Rivals menu.
• In the Co-Op Lobby, the selected mode sometimes took longer than expected to load.
• A stability issue could sometimes occur when listing a Tifo from the Customize Stadium menu.
• When a Co-Op invite was accepted from a player who is not a mutual friend, the player who accepted was taken out of FUT.
• After scoring a goal, the FUT Player Item that displays on the pitch would sometimes have extra text underneath it.
• No image was present when claiming Division Rivals rewards.
• Updated incorrect button callouts on the Team Objective screen.
• Instances of the Stadium lighting turning off when browsing the menus.
• In some cases, Rare Items would be too bright when selected on the Transfer Market.
• Addressed certain Co-Op stability issues that could sometimes occur.
• Various improvements to some Celebrations and pack walk out animations.
• Addressed a rare desync issue when playing Co-Op Squad Battles.
• Update screen flow after redeeming a Coin Boost.
• Removed End Co-Op Session button callout for Solo players.
• Addressed instances of some Attributes being different between FIFA players and FUT Player Items.
• Updated several button callouts across multiple menus.

Gameplay
Made the following changes:

• Increased Competitor Mode difficulty.
  • This change is most impactful when the CPU AI is defending counter attacks,
    • Competitor Mode is present for Legendary and Ultimate difficulty levels.
  • Reduced the amount of time it takes for a player to recover from a block animation.
  • Contextual Agile Dribbling now maintains a slightly longer distance to the opponent in order to improve maneuverability.
  • Slowed down the Elastico Skill Move.
    • The impact of this change is most noticeable when the Elastico is chained multiple times.
  • Following a Directed Run, Body Feints and Knock Ons are disabled for some frames of animation in order to prevent button conflicts.

  Addressed the following issues:

  • Player Lock would stick to one player for the duration of a match if the setting was turned off mid-use during a match.
  • In some situations, when requesting a shot inside the box, the request would rarely result in a tackle.
  • When using Auto Position while playing as the Goalkeeper, the Goalkeeper would continuously make movements and lose stamina.
  • Through Passes would sometimes result in a short pass in inappropriate situations.
  • Sometimes, a player would kick the ball into the ground during a cross, resulting in a poor cross attempt.
  • The inputs required for an Instant Hard Tackle now need to be pressed within a shorter window of time, in order to avoid a button conflict with Secondary Contain.
  • Improved the logic for determining when the player is requesting a Jockey versus a shoulder challenge or seal out.
  • Addressed some instances of a ball touch being missed during a Strafe or Agile Dribble.
  • Sometimes a requested clearance would result in the ball trajectory going in an unintended direction.
  • In some instances, players would unnecessarily perform a stretching pass animation.
  • Made adjustments to receiver selection for Through Passes, to result in more desirable receiver targets.
  • Rarely, when requesting a Cross, the correct receiver was not targeted, resulting in the ball going out of bounds.
  • Improved touches during a Skill Move when the ball carrier is being physically contested by the opponent.
  • In rare situations following a deflection, the ball could get stuck on the goal frame.
  • In some situations, a requested pass would not happen when the ball carrier and the opponent were physically contesting.
  • The ball would sometimes have an unrealistic vertical trajectory in situations where two players contested a header.
  • A player’s arm could sometimes get stuck in a goal net after falling inside.
  • Sometimes, the following Skill Moves would not be consistently performed as requested:
    • Sombrero Flick.
    • Step Overs when standing.
    • The combination of the Ball Roll into the Scoop Turn.
  • Sometimes, Skill Moves were not being performed if they were immediately requested after the ball carrier finished turning.
  • Flicking the right stick while in the process of receiving the ball would sometimes cause the next Skill Move request to be unresponsive.
  • Sometimes, players would not follow the optimal running route when approaching the ball for a shot or pass, resulting in an unresponsive action.
  • Addressed some instances of the player running over the ball before performing a requested cross, resulting in an unresponsive action.

  Career Mode

  Made the following changes:

  • Added Hungary, Bulgaria, and Iceland to the Youth Scouting Map.

  Addressed the following issues:

  • The Captain would sometimes complain about losing captaincy when being rested for a Cup Match.
  • Addressed a grammatical error during Player Negotiations.
  • Text would overlap on the Development Tile for players with a nickname.
  • Removed the non-functional D-Pad Tactics UI from Player Career Mode as it was causing button conflicts.
  • When editing the Manager, some hair accessories would sometimes not display a thumbnail image.
  • Improved harsh in-game lighting that could occur when entering a match from the Interactive Match sim.
  • After transfer listing a player, and delegating their contract renewal, the player could not be removed from the Transfer List.
  • Addressed some instances of Development Plans not showing as completed despite enough time passing.
  • Some Board Objectives were incorrectly being progressed during Pre Season Tournaments.
  • Addressed stability issues which could rarely occur during Post Match Interviews.
  • Adjusted the team rating star color when replacing teams in the UEFA Europa League.
  • Addressed various visual only menu issues.
  • On some occasions, competition branding from the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League would remain in the menus after being viewed through the Calendar or Weekly Schedule.
  • Contract delegations were not using the correct Negotiations logic.
  • Addressed some instances of fixture congestion in the Bundesliga.
  • A club’s default Captain was indicated by a UI element on the Interactive Match Sim Fitness and Ratings screens instead of the currently selected Captain.
  • Improved transition between Negotiation scenes and the menu.
  • Improved lighting in some Negotiation scenes.
  • Players were sometimes asking for contract renewals despite already signing a contact in that same season.
  • Sometimes, the wrong team name was displayed on the News tile.
  • Wage limits were not increasing when the Manager controlled team gained promotion.
  • A controller disconnect would not pause the match in the Interactive Match Sim.
  • When playing as a goalkeeper in Player Career, AI teammates were playing at the Legendary difficulty setting even when a lower one was selected.
  • After entering the match through the Interactive Sim, with controllers assigned to each side, a controller disconnect resulted in the corresponding team becoming inactive.
  • Addressed a rare stability issue in Player Career.
  • Players who were recently transferred into the club were unable to be loaned out.
  • Sometimes, in-game group celebrations would not happen as requested.
  • Addressed incorrect referee selection in pre season tournaments.
  • Various stability improvements.

  Pro Clubs

  Addressed the following issues:

  • Text to speech did not function correctly in Pro Clubs matches.
  • In Pro Clubs, the Pitch and Kits preview was missing from the Tactics tile when using Arabic.
  • The default players in the LF and RF positions had an OVR of 75 instead of 80 when using the 3-4-2-1 formation.
  • After completing a match and selecting Play Next Match, the available Skill Points were not visible on the Searching For Match screen.
  • The 2D player portrait did not display on the Match Facts screen.
  • Improved lighting in Pro Clubs matches.

  VOLTA FOOTBALL

  Made the following changes:

  • Music now plays during matches played in the VOLTA STADIUM.
  • When a new Featured Battles event starts while the player is already in the Featured Battles menu, the player will be taken to the main menu and receive a message explaining that the new event has begun.
  • Added an on screen indicator while Drop-In matchmaking is in progress.

  Addressed the following issues:

  • The menu was briefly active while searching for a Drop-In match.
  • VOLTA COINS were not displaying in the Gear Up menu when it was accessed through Squad Management.
  • In some locations, the PA Announcer and music were too quiet.
  • The Player Growth Overall UI was incorrectly sized on the post match screens.
  • Sometimes, the same Objective would display multiple times on the Milestone Progress screen following match completion.
  • Sometimes, the menu would display incorrect button callouts and greyed out options following a controller disconnect.
  • Updated the placeholder image that was present when hovering over Mbappé in a match lobby.
  • The Defending Novice Skill Game would get stuck in an endless loop if the ball went out of bounds.
  • Addressed a stability issue which could sometimes occur during a Featured Battles match.
  • During a celebration, an AI teammate would sometimes move erratically.
  • In the Net Flicks Skill Game, the player controlled Avatar would make an automatic pass on the first attempt after a retry.
  • In the Net Flicks Skill game, an AI player would sometimes prevent the Skill Game from being completed by moving the ball to an area out of play.
  • Controls conflict on mouse and keyboard controls after using the one button option.
  • The event timer now displays days instead of hours where appropriate.

  Audio, Visual, General

  Made the following change:

  • Added 1 Manager Star Head.
    •  
    • Updated some broadcast packages, kits, stadiums, scenes, and audio.

  Addressed the following issues:

  • Sometimes, menu music did not play following a forfeit in Online Seasons.
  • Addressed an issue causing visual corruption during a pre match scene that impacted Liverpool when playing at Anfield.
  • Addressed an issue causing squares to display on the Player Performance screen found in a match pause menu.
  • A player in the background would sometimes twitch during booking scenes.
  • Sometimes, goalkeeper animations would become visually corrupted for a few frames of the animation when doing a save, this was visual only.
  • Sometimes, the transition animations between a fall and a landing would become corrupted for a few frames of the animation, this was visual only.
  • Addressed issues with Alvaro Morata’s signature celebration.
  • Various stability improvements.