The sea of potential wonder-kids present in FC 25

Those issues are especially pronounced in FC 25 Coins VOLTA mode, a faster-paced, smaller-scale match. It's more in line with street soccer than the massive stadium experience usually offered by FC games, but entertaining nonetheless, and even better than the standard modes from time to time. In fact, VOLTA may even be the entire reason for players to make the jump from versions older than FC 25. where it was first added, simply because of how entertaining it is.

However, it requires a lot more timing and precision because of how small the arena is and how quickly the game moves. Stadia just can't seem to keep up a lot of the time, with connection issues sometimes resulting in opponents running away with the game. VOLTA is a refreshing break from the other modes FC 25 has to offer, so it's disappointing to see it marred by connection problems.

In FC 25's online multiplayer matches, the problem is more frustrating. A bad connection can result in a loss that has a tangible effect on a player's rating, and that's simply unfair. It's a serious problem, especially for those that want to play the game in some competitive capacity. Luckily, the issues didn't seem quite as frequent as they did in the single-player matches, though it's difficult to determine if that's because Stadia legitimately prioritizes multiplayer matches or if it's simply luck of the draw.

All of the connection issues would be understandable on a low-speed internet connection, but with 300 MBps download and Google's own Mesh WiFi system powering the network, the problems become far more egregious. With more than a year of experience under the service's belt now, the persistent connection issues should have been improved. It's yet another highlight of one of the problems Stadia users have regularly vented about. Those with slower internet speeds will need to be doubly cautious, as the problems will undoubtedly be more pronounced there.

Of all the issues, though, the most troublesome is EA Sports FC Coins low player count on Stadia, even this close to launch. During peak times finding a match isn't that difficult, but trying to find a mid-day match will be more of a challenge. The highest player count we've managed to find so far was around 160 players in the Seasons mode, and while that was enough to find a match in a few minutes, it seems likely that this will pose a problem to the core experience moving forward. With the connection problems being so persistent, it's difficult to imagine players not jumping ship to the console versions.