Highguard takes aim at critics’ biggest grievance but fans worry it’s a temporary fix

Highguard hasn’t had the best of launches. After huge initial success, the game quickly dwindled and only retained some 10 percent of its launch numbers, though it seems to have stabilized at around that level. One of the biggest grievances fans had was the 3v3 mode, which many thought felt empty and uneventful. Thankfully, that’s now being addressed.

As we wrote earlier, Highguard teased a new game mode with its new patch, and the devs have now confirmed that, indeed, a 5v5 mode is now in the game. “You asked, we listened,” the devs said on X today, addressing what was by far one of the most significant complaints players had after trying the game out on Monday.

This doesn’t seem to be a lasting solution, though; the devs say this new mode will be “limited,” likely rotating out of the game after some time. That fact has struck a new nerve with fans, who’ve given a lukewarm reaction to this development.

“Limited?! Please have this mode forever,” reads one response to the announcement. “We need 5v5 as a permanent update, not a limited time mode,” another said. It could be that devs are wanting to try the mode out, see how it plays and lands with players, and only then decide to add the thing in permanently, refining and modifying it prior to making it everlasting.

Whatever the case, it’s a huge improvement for Highguard, and a good look for the devs considering how quickly this player grievance has been addressed. Updates are dropping left and right, and they’ll probably keep coming as the title tries to shake off all the bad rep it has (probably unjustifiably) accrued over the past since months, and especially in the wake of its TGA appearance.

Though much of its situation could have been avoided, Highguard is at least trying to make a name for itself and make the game enjoyable for all, even those who had once hated on it.

The post Highguard takes aim at critics’ biggest grievance but fans worry it’s a temporary fix appeared first on Destructoid.

The Icon Swaps program has returned to Ultimate Team after several years of absence, and FC 26 players can obtain some amazing rewards for free of cost.

EA Sports will be releasing 20 tokens in total for you to obtain and exchange them for rewards. The rewards include special Icon cards, repeatable packs, and evolutions. Let’s look at the best reward combinations you can pick from.

Best Icon Swaps rewards to pick in FC 26

As of writing, 10 of the 20 Icon Swaps tokens are available. Grinding them separately will take a lot of time. However, we have a shortcut for you to reduce the grind as much as possible. That said, obtaining all the tokens won’t be easy. We also don’t know what the conditions for the remaining 10 tokens will be in the future.

There could be secret tokens in the future as well, but not everyone will manage to get every token. The table below has the best rewards combination you can opt for. The choices are based on my judgments, and I have heavily gone with the current in-game meta.

No. of Tokens	Rewards	Reason
4	20 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack (Two Times)/Xabi Alonso Icon and 25x 82+ Rare Gold Players Pack	Great fodder packs
5	Tiki Taka+/Xabi Alonso Icon and 20 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack/15 85+ Rare Gold Players Pack and 20 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack	Tiki Taka+ should be taken if you have a meta Icon. Otherwise, you can go for Xabi Alonso and a fodder pack, or just opt for pure fodder.
6	25 86+ Rare Gold Players Pack	25 guaranteed walkouts are amazing.
7	25 86+ Rare Gold Players Pack and 25 82+ Rare Gold Players Pack	I don’t like Zambrotta’s icon card. Going for the guaranteed walkout pack is better.
8	25 86+ Rare Gold Players Pack and 20 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack	Gambling on a campaign pick isn’t my cup of tea.
9	Stoichkov/25 86+ Rare Gold Players Pack and 15 85+ Rare Gold Players Pack	Only pick Stoichkov if you don’t have a meta attacker on the left wing.
10	Iconic Attacker Glow Up	Absolutely fantastic evolution that will improve the attacking lineup of most players in the game.
11-13	Iconic Attacker Glow Up and Fodder Packs	Pick the evolution and whatever fodder packs you can with the balance.
14-18	Rio Ferdinand and fodder packs/Iconic Attacker Glow Up and Fodder packs	Choose the option that suits your team more. I will be personally going with the evolution and fodder packs.
19-20	Ronaldo	This card is a must-have for any player at any given skill level.