EA SPORTS are on the verge of releasing FIFA 21 Title Update #9 on Origin PC and Steam, with plans to add the Jan. 26 update to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 soon too; here’s all the patch notes, including more skill move nerfs.

The FIFA publishers have been on a war against offensive tricks and skills in the past few Title Updates, and they don’t look to have changed their tune in #9 either.

Two offensive FIFA 21 moves are on the chopping block this patch ⁠— “Flick Ups” and “Volleyed Chip Shots” ⁠— in an effort to add more agency in defense. The first, a skill move change, is mainly targeting the “Rainbow Flick” that has been rampant in Ultimate Team over the past few months.

EA has moved to “reduce consistency of the ball trajectory” after successful ‘flick’ skill moves, including those that “involve launching the ball into the air.”

On the shooting front, Volleyed Chip Shots have had some power taken out at range. The biggest swap is a “reduced effectiveness” for the shot if taken more than 10.67 meters from the goal.

Shots taken more than 16.76m away will now be “half as effective” as well.

There was one more gameplay change EA SPORTS introduced in FIFA 21’s latest update too ⁠— referees will finally be less eager to blow for full-time mid-attack.

EA has “considerably reduced the probability of referees calling for the end of the match during a potential goalscoring opportunity.” This could, the FIFA devs warned, lead to “slightly longer” injury time periods in some matches.

The new FIFA patch also removed a popular Squad Battles exploit, changing the way defensive AI works when recovering the ball in offline matches.

Finally, the FIFA publishers also made a raft of changes to Ultimate Team ⁠— including more FUT store issues ⁠— Career Mode, Volta Football, and Pro Clubs.

EA SPORTS also made no mention of “auto blocks” — the automatic AI-controlled defensive move present in most FIFA modes — in the new update #9 patch notes, despite the FIFA 21 community calling for nerfs to the defensive animation for some time now.

The new FIFA 21 update should be deployed onto Steam and Origin by Jan. 27. The update will then drop on Xbox and PlayStation in the next few weeks.

Here’s the full patch notes, courtesy of EA SPORTS on the FIFA forums.

FIFA 21 Title Update #9: full patch notes

Gameplay

Made the following changes:

• Reduced consistency of the ball trajectory after successfully performing a Skill Move which involves launching the ball into the air.
• Flick Up ball trajectory consistency reduced in cases where the Flick Up is performed directly following a Skill Move.
• Reduced consistency of Flick Ups performed while running with the ball.
  • This effect is most impactful when the ball carrier is running at a high speed.
• Reduced the effectiveness of Volleyed Chip Shots when taken from 35 feet/10.67 meters and beyond.
  • This effect scales up to 55 feet/16.76 meters. Volleyed Chip Shots reduce in effectiveness the farther they’re taken from, up to 55 feet/16.76 meters.
  • Volleyed Chip Shots taken at 55 feet/16.76 meters and beyond can be half as effective as those taken at 35 feet/10.67 meters.
• Considerably reduced the probability of the referee calling for the end of the match during a potential goalscoring opportunity.
  • As a result, Injury Time could now last for a slightly longer period.

Addressed the following issues:

• When defending against the Bridge Skill Move while Jockeying, the defending player could temporarily slow down unintentionally.
• When a defending player performs a tackle that was unsuccessful at winning the ball, the tackler’s foot will partially pass through a portion of the ball.
  • This change does not impact the success or failure of tackles, and the tackling player is now more likely to make some contact with the ball in these situations.
• Following a specific type of goalkeeper pass during an offline match, the defending team’s CPU AI would not attempt to pressure the attacking side in order to recover the ball.

FIFA Ultimate Team

Addressed the following issues:

• On the Kit Select screen in Division Rivals, the timer could freeze for the player who confirmed their selection if their opponent was still selecting a kit.
• When accessing the Transfer Market tab on the Squad screen and viewing the Search Results as a list, Bid Status Icons did not display.
• Some text incorrectly overlapped other UI elements when the My Playlist tile was selected on the FUT Friendlies screen.
• During Friendlies matches, the in-game Game Settings screen would incorrectly list the ball being currently used.
• Stadium Themes based on real-world teams did not always apply correctly to in-game ad boards.
• The FIFA Playtime FIFA Points limit exceeded message does not display until the limit has been exceeded a second time.
• The Live FUT Friendlies UI does not display correct visuals when the tile was selected.

Career Mode

Addressed the following issues:

• Managers were incorrectly wearing team kits during matches and other scenes.
• When changing the sorting in the Transfer Hub and Squad Hub, the UI did not automatically scroll back to the top.
• In Player Career, the Virtual Pro was sometimes not receiving loan and transfer offers.
• When entering the Transfer Hub through a News story and attempting to sign a player, a stability issue could occur.

VOLTA FOOTBALL

Addressed the following issues:

• Drop In Match Lobbies could become temporarily stuck during a specific UI flow, and as a result, would not be filled with the maximum number of players.
• Further addressed instances of being unable to successfully matchmake in VOLTA SQUADS.

Pro Clubs

Addressed the following issues:

• When the Captain changes Game Plans during a Pro Clubs match, some AI teammates could have switched positions incorrectly.

General, Audio, and Video

Made the following changes:

• Updated some kits, Tifos, badges, 2D images, celebrations, and boots.
• Added new commentary lines related to David Beckham.
• Updated 1 existing Starhead and added 4 legacy Starheads.

Addressed the following issues:

• An incorrect line of commentary could occur when referencing a specific instance of an offside.
• The Adidas Silver and Black Circuit Board balls did not display in-game shadows.
• Some balls displayed placeholder text in the Match tab of the Game Settings screen.

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