EA FC 26 early access explained – every way to get early access to the new game

If you want to get early access to EA FC 26, you're in luck, because there are a few ways you can play EA FC 26 before the official worldwide release.

We're now just one month away from the worldwide release of EA FC 26, with the latest EA Sports FC instalment set to go live across the globe on Friday, September 26. Ahead of the EA FC 26 release, EA Sports has been building up hype for the new game, releasing deep dives into EA FC 26 Ultimate Team, EA FC 26 Career Mode, and EA FC 26 gameplay.

EA also released an EA FC 26 closed beta earlier this month, allowing a select few to play the game extra early and provide feedback to EA on the new game. Official EA FC 26 player ratings are also expected to be released soon, but right now, there's one question on everyone's lips – when can we play EA FC 26 earliest?

Here's every way you can get EA FC 26 early access.

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How to get EA FC 26 early access

In total, there are four different ways to get access to EA FC 26 early, with some methods giving you seven days of early access, while others offer less than 24 hours. This is every way that players can play EA FC 26 ahead of the official worldwide release.

Pre-order the EA FC 26 Ultimate Edition

The easiest and most obvious way to get early access to EA FC 26 is by pre-ordering the Ultimate Editionof the game. As well as cool bonuses such as FC Points and a free Ultimate Team Icon, the biggest appeal of the EA FC 26 Ultimate Edition is seven days of early access, meaning you will be able to play EA FC 26 from Friday, September 19.

But, with this being the best way to get early access, it's also the most expensive. We've already done a breakdown of EA FC 26 prices how much each version of the game costs, but if you want to purchase the EA FC 26 Ultimate Edition, it will cost £99.99 / $99.99 / AU$149.95 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, £79.99 / $79.99 / AU$139.95 on Nintendo Switch 2, and £69.99 / $69.99 / AU$139.95 on the Nintendo Switch.

Become an EA Play member

If you don't fancy forking out the big bucks on the EA FC 26 Ultimate Edition just yet, then becoming an EA Play member may be the best option for you.

There are two options with EA Play, the first being the basic EA Play tier, which comes in at £5.99 / $5.99 / AU$8.95 per month. If you sign up to become an EA Play member at this tier, you'll get EA FC 26 early access from Friday, September 19, but it's limited to a 10-hour free trial period, without even purchasing the game.

If you decide after that you want to purchase the game, all your progress from the trial will carry over.

The second way to get EA FC 26 early access is to sign up for the EA Play Pro membership tier, which will cost you £16.99 / $16.99 / AU$24.95 per month. Like pre-ordering the Ultimate Edition, it grants unlimited EA FC 26 early access, while the membership also includes the full game. So if you only see yourself playing for a short time, or don't want to fully commit just yet, you can sign up for a month and see how it goes.

EA FC 26 Web App and Companion App

Now, this technically isn't official early access as you can't play the game, but using the EA FC 26 Web App and EA FC 26 Companion App is a fantastic way to get a head start in EA FC 26 Ultimate Team. The Web App and Companion App allow players to control their Ultimate Teams on the go, with players able to complete SBCs, open packs, view objectives, make transfers and even start Evolutions.

No official release date for the Web App and Companion App has been released yet, but based on the EA FC 25 release dates, we expect the EA FC 26 Web App to be released on Wednesday, September 17, and the EA FC 26 Companion App to be released on Thursday, September 18.

EA FC 26 New Zealand trick (Xbox only)

The New Zealand trick is a tested method that has worked for years, but it only works for players on Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One. Sorry, PlayStation and PC players.

If you've already got the EA FC 26 Ultimate Edition, then the New Zealand trick is sort of like early access for the early access. The New Zealand trick is simply where you change the location of your Xbox console to New Zealand so you can start playing the game one day early.

With EA FC 25, the game went live 12am local time, as did the early access, so this way, players based in the UK could access the game 11 hours earlier, with other regions getting in early depending on their time zone relative to New Zealand.

No release times have been confirmed for EA FC 26, but if it's the same as EA FC 25, this method will work once again.