EA Sports FC 24 will bring one of next year’s biggest football tournaments to The Video Game Franchise Formerly Known As FIFA next summer, letting you experience the UEFA Euro 2024 championships via a free update. There’ll also be the chance to compete in a virtual Euros hosted via the new game.

EA’s FIFA replacement will add what the publishers call “a full UEFA EURO 2024 tournament experience” next summer, timed with the European championship’s kick-off in real life. That update will be free, although we don’t know exactly what its “experience” will entail just yet.

“We’re delighted to announce that one of next summer’s biggest football tournaments will be fully integrated across EA Sports FC titles,” added David Jackson, brand vice president for EA Sports FC, in a statement that offers literally no clarity at all about what the word “experience” means, but adds another buzzword in “content”: “Alongside our fantastic partners at UEFA, this exclusive Euros content will enable EA Sports to continue delivering the most authentic and innovative football experiences for our fans.”

What we do know for sure is that anyone who plays the recently released sports game between December 18th and January 17th will get one of six European star footballers – England’s Jack Grealish, France’s Ousmane Dembélé, Italy’s Federico Chiesa, Germany’s Florian Wirtz, the Netherlands’ Virgil Van Djik or Spain’s Alvaro Morata – as a bonus Ultimate Team player. The players will be exclusive to the promotion and can’t be traded after the fact, for those hoping to flog them for silly money online.

On top of its connection to the real-life Euros, EA Sports FC 24 will also play host to a virtual tournament officially backed by UEFA. The eEURO – I admire the decision to give it a name like something that launched in 2003, rather than 2023 – will apparently be a yearly programme made up of qualifiers between UEFA national teams that ultimately lead to a live final, all held within the video game. The first eEURO will take place next summer, with details to come.