UFL – May 2026 Review (After Patch 0.73.2)

After Patch 0.73, the game became extremely frustrating in Ranked, Showdown, and Squad League (Legendary difficulty). I even started calling it "Dark Souls Football."

Fortunately, the latest updates have brought some improvement, and the game is now playable again. However, it is still frustrating at times and can easily get on your nerves. This is disappointing, especially considering that these changes were supposed to take UFL to the next level.

At the moment, Kick-Off mode is the most enjoyable experience. The gameplay feels smooth and satisfying, although the rewards are not particularly attractive.

Positives

Squad Swap

• An excellent feature and one of the best additions to the game.
• Great exchange options and overall rewarding progression.
• The addition of two top-tier STARS packs, as well as Spanish, English, and German packs, which offer a chance to obtain a Legendary player.

Content & Progression

• The possibility of obtaining previously released Legendary players has been added (although the chances are low and usually require spending money).
• Login event rewards were a nice addition.
• The Battle Pass offered more variety in its rewards than before.

Gameplay Improvements

• The finesse shot bug has finally been fixed (this issue was seriously damaging gameplay).
• Unrealistically aggressive interceptions have been toned down (another gameplay-breaking issue).
• Regular passing accuracy has been improved, fixing many weak and misplaced passes.
• Defensive ball recoveries feel better; previously, the ball would often bounce straight back to the opponent multiple times after a successful tackle.
• An additional tactical preset slot and more tactical customization options were added.

Support Team

• The Support team has been responsive and helpful.
• Special credit to u/Designer-Flamingo849, who worked incredibly hard this month. He was put in a difficult situation and did everything he could to help improve the game.

Negatives

Gameplay Issues

• Through balls have been significantly worsened (gameplay-breaking issue).
• Defending inside the penalty area feels broken. AI defenders are often passive when opponents dribble nearby, and manual defending has also been weakened instead of being made more effective (gameplay-breaking issue).
• Tactical instructions appear to be malfunctioning, making player movement and positioning unpredictable (gameplay-breaking issue).
• PC controls feel worse than before.

Squad Swap & Economy

• No Squad Swap exchanges for 90+ rated players.
  • This is one of the community's biggest frustrations.
  • Players were told that duplicates would become less of a problem.
  • Even streamers had access to these exchanges before the update launched.
• No exchanges for 300/700 Blue Particles.
• Blue Particle exchanges continue to be heavily restricted.

Game Modes & Rewards

• No new game modes with meaningful rewards.
• Current modes feel outdated and repetitive.
• Too few SP rewards from challenges.
• No Legendary player in the Battle Pass.
• The guaranteed STARS pack releases featuring Valverde and Raphinha during the paid Battle Pass created unnecessary controversy.
• There is still no meaningful way to earn a trophy or similar prestigious reward through gameplay.

Goalkeepers

• Goalkeepers are stronger than before, but they still frequently parry shots directly back to the opponent, resulting in easy rebound goals.

Match Balance Concerns

• There are still many situations that feel like hidden scripts, excessive assistance, or unusual luck favoring weaker teams.
• This may simply be confirmation bias, but after playing a huge number of matches, it often feels like the stronger my squad becomes, the harder the game gets.
• An unusually high number of goals seem to occur around the 3rd, 45th, and 90th minutes.

Suggestions

New Game Modes

Introduce fresh game modes with unique and worthwhile rewards.

For example:

• An AI League mode.
• Stronger teams could play on Legendary difficulty.
• Squad management could become more important through stamina and fitness systems that affect player performance over a season.

Squad Swap Expansion

• Add exchanges for 90+ rated players.
• Allow players to trade high-rated duplicates for 94–97 rated rewards.
• This would make duplicate players much less frustrating and give long-term players additional progression goals.

Final Thoughts

I apologize if some parts of this review sound unusual—I used an automatic translator.

I genuinely wish the UFL team perseverance and success moving forward. The developers have clearly been working hard, but in my opinion, May 2026 was probably the roughest month in UFL's history so far.

What do you think about the current state of the game? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments.

See you on the pitch! ⚽