FIFA 21 is bringing back one of the bigger fan-favorite SBCs after tossing them aside in FIFA 20. Icon SBCs were always a solid way to slowly build up to getting the most famous players in your squad. EA replaced them with Icon Swaps last year, which gave players a chance to earn Icons through gameplay. In some respects, the system worked, but it took away the ability to grind out the best version of most cards. So, while you earn the weakest version of someone like Ruud Gullit, the only way to get his best card was to buy it on the transfer market or spend a ton of real-world money hoping to get lucky.
The latest FIFA 21 Pitch Notes confirms that Icon SBCs and Swaps will be back, which is, on the surface, a big win for the community. Whether you want to grind out objectives through gameplay or grind the menus to finish off SBCs, you’ll have both options. That’s awesome. Unfortunately, there’s a but coming.
The Pitch Notes might confirm that Icon SBCs are coming back; however, it doesn’t say if players will be able to get the best version of an Icon through the SBC. They, of course, could do that, but they’re not saying it explicitly. So consider me extremely cautious in my optimism.
Let’s go back to Ruud Gullit to see why Icon SBCs could be a great reintroduction. Right now, you can get the best version of Gullit on PS4 for 15 million coins. That’s a coin balance most people will probably never see. In FIFA 19, his going price was often much lower because so many people were able to craft him through SBCs. His demand went down because he was more available to normal players.
Hopefully, EA uses the reintroduction of Icon SBCs to make those top-tier players much more obtainable. I’m just not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt quite yet.
FIFA 21 is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 9. It will also come to PS5 and Xbox Series X at a later date.
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