Yes, the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition is Worth It for Serious FUT Fans

XML tags appropriately

For hardcore FIFA Ultimate Team players who live and breathe FUT, the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition is absolutely worth picking up. While the extra $30 cost over the standard edition may seem steep, you get some incredibly valuable perks that can give you a big leg up in FUT.

Key Reasons the Ultimate Edition is Worth it for FUT

Here are the main reasons why serious FUT players will find tremendous value from the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition:

• Early access – 3 days to build your club before others
• 4600 FIFA Points – $40 value for free packs
• One To Watch Player – Special card that improves with real world performance
• World Cup Hero – Celebrating the World Cup, high rating for starter squad
• Dual entitlement – Free next gen upgrade from PS4 to PS5 or Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S

I‘ll break down each of these key perks in more detail below.

Early Access Gives You a Head Start in FUT

With the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition, you get to start playing on September 27th – 3 days before the official launch on September 30th.

This early access period is hugely valuable in FIFA Ultimate Team. Those 3 extra days allow you to make progress on key FUT activities before the standard edition players join the party:

• Complete more Squad Building Challenges (SBCs) to earn packs and cards
• Buy and sell more items on the FUT transfer market to start building coin balance
• Play more matches to improve your Rivals or Squad Battles rank
• Take advantage of early trading opportunities as card prices fluctuate

Dedicated FUT fans know how intense and competitive the first few days can be. Having early access allows you to establish yourself both in-game and in the FUT economy.

According to EA themselves, over 9 million players enjoyed early access with FIFA 22. It‘s clearly an advantage serious FUT players are willing to pay for.

4600 FIFA Points Gets You Started with Packs

The Ultimate Edition also includes 4600 FIFA points – which normally costs around $40. These points can be used right away to purchase packs in FUT.

Packs are the lifeblood of FIFA Ultimate Team – they give you players to build your squad, consumables to use, and other sellable items. Good packs can land you high value cards.

With 4600 points in your account on day one, you have enough to open:

• 6 Premium Gold Packs – Giving you 72 gold cards to kickstart your club
• 1 Prime Mixed Players Pack – Your best shot at high rated rare golds

For hardcore FUT fans, having packs ready to open on launch day is hugely appealing. There‘s nothing like the thrill of landing a star player from your very first pack!

One To Watch Player Offers Major Upgrade Potential

One of the most exciting exclusives in the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition is the untradeable Ones To Watch player item.

Ones To Watch are special cards that dynamically upgrade based on the player‘s real world performance. If they play well for their club, their OTW item upgrades to match.

Landing an OTW is like getting a ticket to an upgrade train all season long. In FIFA 22, standout OTW cards included:

• Romelu Lukaku – Upgraded from 85 → 88
• Jack Grealish – Went from 84 → 86
• Memphis Depay – Rose from 84 → 87

While your guaranteed OTW will be untradeable, it will likely start at a high rating and hold great potential. With upgrades, it could become a star player for your FIFA 23 FUT club.

World Cup Hero Celebrates the Biggest Event in Football

2022 brings a long awaited treat for football fans – the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. To celebrate this massive tournament, FIFA 23 introduces new World Cup Hero player items.

The World Cup Hero in your Ultimate Edition will represent a standout player from World Cups past. Based on the revealed players so far, you can expect a rating of around 86-89 – extremely usable for a starter FUT squad.

As an untradeable item just for Ultimate Edition owners, it will carry solid value all year long. You‘re guaranteed a legendary national team star.

Dual Entitlement Provides Next Gen Upgrade

Finally, the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition also comes with Dual Entitlement. This means you can upgrade at no extra cost from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 or Xbox One to Xbox Series X/S.

The next gen versions of FIFA 23 provide a meaningful upgrade – with features like HyperMotion2 Technology, faster loading, and DualSense controller immersion on PS5.

Dual Entitlement essentially future proofs your purchase. When you do eventually get a next gen console, you won‘t have to buy FIFA 23 again.

Is the Ultimate Edition Worth it for Career Mode and Pro Clubs?

For players who spend most of their time in other modes like Career Mode, Pro Clubs, or offline in general, the Ultimate Edition loses some of its appeal.

Most of the Ultimate perks focus squarely on enhancing FIFA Ultimate Team:

• 4600 FIFA Points are worthless outside of FUT
• Special player items don‘t impact other modes
• Early access provides less value in single player or offline modes

Unless you‘re dying to play Career Mode 3 days early, you‘re mostly paying an extra $30 just for that privilege – which is hard to justify.

The Ultimate Edition definitely caters to the FUT crowd over players of other modes. I‘d recommend saving your money and sticking to the Standard Edition if you don‘t play Ultimate Team extensively.

Ultimate Edition Provides Excellent Value on PC

While the overall value judgement stays the same across platforms, the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition is an even more tantalizing purchase on PC specifically for FUT fans.

A few factors make its perks and bonuses even more powerful on PC:

• Early access extremely valuable with limited 10 hour trials on PC
• FUT market is smaller on PC so extra items and coins impact prices more
• Dual Entitlement gives access to next gen console capabilities for free

For these reasons, the Ultimate Edition is almost a must buy for serious FUT players on PC.

The early, exclusive player items and trading advantage stand out when the overall FUT player pool is smaller. You gain rare access that most PC players won‘t have.

The Verdict: Must Buy for Serious FUT Fans

At the end of the day, the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition provides excellent value if FIFA Ultimate Team is your main focus. For hardcore FUT fans who will play all year long, the cost is absolutely justified.

You gain a powerful head start in FUT with early access, free points, and exclusive player items. These perks can help you compete at a high level all year long.

For FIFA players who spend most of their time elsewhere, the Standard Edition will suit you just fine. The Ultimate Edition‘s bonuses are squarely aimed at FUT.

My final verdict: the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition is a must buy for serious FUT fans who want to maximize their experience. It provides advantages that hardcore players will appreciate all year long.