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EA Sports FC 26’s first patch is here with a nerf to Low Driven Shots, and a fix for that Manager Career bug that had players abandoning the team

by admin September 25, 2025

The early access period of EA Sports FC 26 appears to be chugging along nicely, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any issues to address. The game’s first official patch, version 1.0.2, is now live with a host of changes.

The bulk of the changes in this update affect AI players, as well as Low Driven Shots. Interestingly, some of the tweaks address feedback made all the way back in the game’s closed beta.

Update 1.0.2’s biggest change is a nerf to Low Driven Shots, making them less accurate when shooting with extreme power. Difficult to perform Driven Ground Passes have also been made less accurate, such as those taken at 180 degrees.

There are also a number of changes to the AI, particularly when attacking and positioning. Wingers will now make attacking runs into the box more often, and Wing Backs will stop dropping too deep in their own half of the pitch when their team is in possession.

The patch fixed a bug that would sometimes cause AI players to not make runs into open spaces when they should, too, and improved their “offside awareness.” One of the more amusing bugs that the patch also fixed has to do with Manager Career players leaving the team during sims. Read on below for the full change log:

Gameplay

Tuned Low Driven Shots based on your feedback in the Closed Beta to be less accurate when shooting with an extreme amount of power.
As part of our AI attacking updates based on your feedback, made the the following changes:
Increased frequency of wingers making attacking runs into the box.
Wing Backs will no longer drop too deep in their own half when their team is in possession.
Improved teammate offside awareness.
Addressed instances of players not making runs into open space when it could be beneficial.
Improved positioning of players when playing with low defensive depth so that they’re not pushing too high up the pitch.
Center Backs are now less likely to run wide when marking central attackers.
False Backs now transition more intelligently to defense to better maintain defensive shape.
A goalkeeper dive indicator now displays where an incoming shot is coming from.
Changed the Camera Pan input based on your feedback and to avoid button conflicts.
As shared on the EASFC Tracker, we’re continuing to work on Be A Goalkeeper updates to improve the gameplay experience. We’ll share more details in the near future.
Improved cases of unexpected heavy touches when sprinting in wet weather Authentic gameplay based on your feedback.
Improved instances of Ground Passes unexpectedly falling behind the intended receiver.
Tuned difficult to perform Driven Ground Passes to be less accurate, for example, first time Driven Ground Passes taken at 180 degrees.
Addressed incorrect shooting animations that sometimes occurred when attempting lace shots, resulting in unexpected behavior.

Image credit: EA Sports/VG247

Ultimate Team

Addressed the following issues:

Players weren’t always able to enter multiplayer gameplay after accepting a Co-Op invite.
Player Item portraits were sometimes misaligned on the Squad screen.
A stability issue could have occurred after completing the Onboarding and viewing your Squad for the first time.

Career Mode

Addressed the following issue:

Players could’ve incorrectly left your club when simming through the calendar.

General audio and visual

Made the following changes:

Updated some star heads, kits, and placeholder text/images.

Addressed the following issues:

[PC Only] Adjusting display settings while in Borderless could have unintentionally resulted in performance loss.
[PC Only] Addressed a few instances of controllers not recognizing inputs. We will continue to investigate this and other reported PC issues and provide updates in the near future.
Addressed a number of stability issues that could have occurred.

FC 26 has been live for Ultimate Edition owners for several days now, but it officially goes live for everyone else tomorrow, or today if you’re on PC. We’ve put together a few guides to help you in these early days, such as our recommendations and tactics codes for the best formations, the best young players to sign in Career Mode (Wonderkids), the fastest players in EA FC 26 and more.

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September 25, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Votes Down Its Own Proposal to Require Prescriptions for Covid-19 Shots

by admin September 19, 2025

In another vote, advisers recommended adding language on the shot’s risks to the vaccine’s information sheet, which is already required by law.

The committee’s focus on Covid-19 vaccines reflects Kennedy’s long-held suspicion of them. Since taking office in February, Kennedy has canceled a half-billion dollars in mRNA vaccine research and separately ended a major contract with Moderna, one of the Covid vaccine manufactures, for work on a pandemic bird flu vaccine.

During Friday’s meeting, CDC scientists presented extensive data on the safety and efficacy of the Covid vaccines. They also explained in detail how the agency tracks Covid hospitalizations and said the agency has a “rigorous and standardized process” to determine whether hospitalizations are classified as being due to Covid-19.

During the discussion portion of the meeting, committee members made several unfounded claims. Robert Malone, a former mRNA researcher who has spread vaccine misinformation, questioned whether there is actually evidence of disease protection from the Covid shots. “Are there any well-defined, characterized correlates of protection for Covid, yes or no?” he demanded.

Cody Meissner, a pediatrician at Dartmouth College, responded that there is “a reasonable measurement of neutralizing or binding antibodies that correlate with protection against symptomatic infection in the first few months” after vaccination.

At one point, Hilary Blackburn, a pharmacist on the committee, questioned whether the Covid vaccine could be connected to her mother’s lung cancer diagnosis, which occurred two years after receiving a Covid vaccine. She said she is aware of four other individuals in her small hometown diagnosed with the same kind of cancer. “Is it related to the vaccine?” she asked.

In a tense exchange about potential birth defects associated with the Covid vaccines, some ACIP members pressed manufacturer Pfizer about eight birth defects that occurred in a group of pregnant women who received the company’s vaccine and two birth defects that occurred in an unvaccinated group. Alejandra Gurtman, who heads vaccine clinical research and development at Pfizer, replied that those rates are comparable to rates of congenital abnormalities seen in the general population.

Carol Hayes, a liaison with the American College of Nurse-Midwives who was present during the meeting, clarified that most birth defects arise during the first trimester of pregnancy, and in the cited study, mothers received the vaccine at 12 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

At Friday’s meeting, the committee also reversed a decision it made just a day before. On Thursday, advisers voted to no longer recommend the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine to children under age 4. Yet puzzlingly, it voted to maintain coverage of that vaccine through the federal Vaccines for Children program, which provides free vaccines to low-income children and those without insurance. On Friday, they voted that the program should not, in fact, cover it.

On Friday, advisers also voted 11 to one in favor of tabling a decision on whether to delay the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine until one month of age. The committee had discussed that vaccine extensively on Thursday, though it’s unclear why the committee was asked to look into the potential change at all, as the hepatitis B vaccine has been given to newborns in the US since 1991.

Infants get the vaccine before leaving the hospital because the virus can be passed from an infected mother to the baby during birth. Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection that can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. The vaccine is highly effective at preventing infection in newborns.

Chari Cohen, president of the Hepatitis B Foundation, tells WIRED there is no scientific rationale for delaying the hepatitis B vaccine until one month after birth and she worries about an increase in hepatitis B infections if the panel eventually recommends delaying the immunization.

“We will likely see more babies and young children who become infected,” Cohen says. “From a public health infrastructure perspective, we are concerned that this risk-based approach will miss preventing infection to babies born to infected moms.”

Up to 16 percent of HBV-positive pregnant women don’t get tested for hepatitis B, so screening doesn’t capture all infected mothers.

“We do not understand the motivation or rationale for this debate,” Cohen says.

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September 19, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots review: not a hole-in-one, but certainly a birdie

by admin September 4, 2025

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Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is the latest entry in the beloved casual sports franchise. Developer Hyde (Digimon Survive) is taking over from stalwart Clap Hanz here, but it nonetheless retains the series’ captivating charm.

Review information

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release date: September 5, 2025

If you’ve felt let down by the recent run of Mario Golf entries and aren’t keen on more sim-like titles such as PGA Tour 2K25, then Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots occupies a satisfying middle ground. It’s a more fulfilling and content-rich outing than, say, Mario Golf: Super Rush, but also has plenty of shotcraft depth. Wrapped in a pleasingly colorful art style, it’s almost a best of both worlds situation.

Right out of the box, Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots packs tens – if not hundreds – of hours of content. There’s a boatload of characters to unlock, courses to play on, and a variety of balls, clubs, costumes, and caddies to gradually add to your roster. Throw in some party-esque modes like Wacky Golf, and you have a game that’s suitable for both solo and social play. And yes, both offline and online multiplayer are supported here.

That’s not to say there aren’t a few bogeys to contend with, however, particularly when it comes to progression. There are around 30 characters to play as in Hot Shots, with just two playable at the start. You’ll have to unlock the rest, and while that’s no bad thing in isolation, you’ll also need to level up each character individually to gain access to their skills, costumes, and ancillary items. When you’re only getting one or two levels per 9 or 18-hole run, you’ll realize that progression feels like it’s stuck in the rough.

Characters, despite having plenty of charming and high-quality animations associated with them, can also be very annoying. Voice lines are at a premium here, so you’ll be hearing the same four to five quips on every single hole. At least you can turn voices off in the options menu.

Tee time

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

There are two big single-player modes in Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. Challenge Mode is broken down into ascending ranks, with each offering 9-18 hole events under a variety of conditions. These can include differing times of day and specific rule sets.

These special rules can be quite fun, and range from casual-friendly modifiers like ‘tornado’ cups, which magnetize the ball towards it, to rather devilish ones like increasing stroke penalties for hitting hazards like the rough or bunkers. But my favorite has to be the ‘impossible pin’ rule, which ups the challenge by placing the pin in deliberately awkward spots on the green.

Completing these events increases your rank gauge, and when it’s full, you can progress to the next tier and face off against an unlockable golfer.

Challenge Mode should be your first port of call, as it will aid in unlocking scenarios for the other main single-player mode: World Tour. This is a more story-focused mode, presenting simple cutscenes and challenges for the game’s cast of golfers. This is also where you’ll be able to unlock them as permanent additions to the roster – and thankfully, you typically only have to clear a golfer’s first challenge to get them.

You’ve also got traditional and highly customizable match and stroke play modes, where you get full freedom in choosing course, time of day, weather conditions, and those aforementioned special rules. Then, there’s solo play if you just fancy practicing your drive alone.

Wacky Golf is another great, party-centric addition that throws traditional golf rules out of the window. During Wacky Golf, you’ll witness things like clubs swapping between opponents, randomized rule sets, and full-on explosives that’ll send your ball unpredictably flying. It’s great fun, and a suitably Mario Party-esque take on the standard golf formula.

Call me Albert Ross

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Of course, heaps of content would mean nothing if the act of golfing wasn’t fun to engage with. And thankfully, Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots offers some of the series’ most satisfying play. The three-button-press system returns here, and is very casual-friendly. Simply hit the button once to begin charging shot power, again to lock that power in, and then one more time to hit the ball.

Best bit

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots really nails the feeling of a perfect drive. Animation and sound design come together to create the perfect feedback here, meaning your best shots always feel incredibly satisfying. The same goes for chip-ins and hole-in-ones, which the game celebrates appropriately with awesome replays.

There are nuances within, though. You’ll need to time the hit carefully in order to ensure the ball doesn’t veer off course in the air. On top of that, you’ll have wind to contend with, and you can add top, back, and side spin to further influence the ball’s travel and carry. The ball’s lie (or how sloped the surface it’s resting on is) will also impact its trajectory, so accounting for this is crucial, especially on the trickier courses.

Putting can also be tricky, albeit in a satisfyingly challenging way. You do get some friendly assistance here via a grid on the green that highlights whether your shot will be uphill, downhill, or flat, as well as if it’ll veer off to the left or right. Once again, accounting for this can be all the difference between birdie, par, or the dreaded bogey.

You will find that most of the game’s initial characters feel quite weak in terms of their drive distance and stats like impact and spin effectiveness. This is by design, and you may even struggle to get birdies on a par 4 hole. But in theory, I like the style of progression here. These ‘weaker’ characters are a bit easier to handle, more predictable, thus allowing the player to get a better grasp on golfing as a whole.

You can also permanently improve a golfer’s stats by purchasing food items from the main menu’s shop. Food, as well as club and ball selection, will influence your stats and means that you can eventually make a beast out of your favorite golfer and caddy pairing.

Stuck in the sand

(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

I say ‘in theory’ earlier in regards to progression because while I like the general structure, improving any given character’s capabilities is a frustratingly glacial process. Characters and caddies will have their loyalty levels improve as you complete courses and challenges with them. However, you’ll mostly be getting just one or two levels at a time. And with full courses taking anywhere from 15-30 minutes to complete, the pace of improvement slows to a crawl.

It sucks because said progression is the most efficient way of unlocking new items in the shop, including costumes, clubs, balls, perk-like stickers for your caddy, and so on. You’ll need to be in it for the long haul and have some patience with Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots, then. Thankfully, the core game always feels excellent to play, but it’s an experience best played in short bursts, in my experience.

Although the experience is somewhat tarnished by grating voice lines, and game performance isn’t always up to par. For example, hitting a perfect shot can awkwardly freeze the game for a moment before connecting with the ball. Furthermore, the frame rate can dip to as low as 30fps while you watch the ball travel to its destination.

These small blemishes aside, as well as a rather big bugbear in the slow progression, Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is an easy game to love. While the usual series developer isn’t behind this one, Hyde seems to fully understand its loveable fundamentals and has created a fulfilling and long-lasting golfing experience, so long as you’re the patient type.

Should you play Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots?

Play it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Accessibility

Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots is light in the accessibility department, but there are some handy options to make note of. The ‘gimme putt’ setting will automatically putt the ball past bogey if it’s close enough to the hole. Plus, there are various styles of shot gauge if you’re having trouble with the default three-point button system.

How I reviewed Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots

I played Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots for 12 hours for this review. I played on PlayStation 5, primarily using the DualSense Wireless Controller. During play, I mainly tackled Challenge Mode and World Tour to rank up and unlock various things such as characters, courses, and costumes.

I also spent some time in standard stroke and match play, as well as Wacky Golf, to get a general feel of all modes and the game’s performance across its many courses.

First reviewed August 2025

Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots: Price Comparison

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September 4, 2025 0 comments