What's the Difference Between Roles and Roles++ in EA Sports FC 25?

Following the addition of Playstyles last year, the big new player-focused feature in EA Sports FC 25 is roles. Replacing work-rates, roles specify how an athlete plays in each position and how effective they are at those roles. But what’s the difference between roles and roles++ in EA FC 25? We’ll explain.

How Do Roles and Roles++ Differ in EA Sports FC 25?

First of all, we’ll go over the official breakdown direct from EA Sports themselves.

In EA FC 25, a player’s role can be described as “Base”, “Role+”, or “Role++”: 

• Base: The player has access to all roles for their preferred position. 
• Role+: The player will be more effective in this role than others. 
• Role++: The player will be among the very best in this specific role.

Therefore, EA Sports equates it to ‘+’ simply meaning the player will play better. However, there’s more to it than that.

You will notice roles more often than not in off-the-ball AI play. A player with a role+ or a role++ will have more responsive and effective AI. You’ll notice that they’re more often than not in the correct position for their role off the ball. For example, players with the Inside Forward++ role won’t drift out wide when you don’t want them to, or get in the way of your midfielders as often as players with a Base role would.

The likes of Poacher++, which Erling Haaland has, will see the player get to the ball ahead of the defender more often than a player without the role would.

Essentially, there’s a four-point scale for how good a player is at their position. First is out-of-position, and then there’s each of the role definitions. You’ll simply feel the player do more of what you’d expect from the role+ and role++ options.

Think of them as similar to playstyles and playstyles+, Players will be better at the specific attribute with a playstyle, but even better with the + variation. For roles, a player will be good at certain things with each specific role, but even better with the + versions.

EA Sports has never indicated what kind of stat boosts players get for things like traits, roles, or playstyles over the years, they’re simply “better” at what the ability indicates. Unfortunately, that’s as analytical as we can get about it.

As more players get a variety of roles in the coming months, we’ll hopefully get a better picture of what the intricate differences between roles and roles++ are. For more EA FC 25 guides, check back with Operation Sports.