Definition of Ultimate Team

What is the meaning of the term Ultimate Team when it comes to sports video gaming?

The Ultimate Team is a game mode in the Electronic Arts' FIFA soccer title that is rapidly gaining popularity and is played by millions world-wide every day.

The premise of Ultimate Team is that every gamer can assemble a team using players from all international soccer leagues. At the start, each player is given a squad featuring random players with average skills. With time, games played, points earned and credits purchased, one is able to acquire stars such as Ronaldo, Neymar and Messi. And play them on the same team! When building a squad, one has to take player chemistry into consideration, finances, contracts, fitness, coaching and training, among other things. There are many levels to the game and many ways to improve your team. Home ground can be any stadium in the world and all the badges and jerseys of all teams are available.

The Ultimate Team game mode has evolved to the point where today we have official eFIFA World Cup tournaments and every major league in the world has it's own gaming version of the competition. The English Premier League, for example, has the ePremier League annual tournament. The money purse for winning these tournaments is constantly increasing and considering the rise of eSports in general, the sky's the limit for Ultimate Team.

Ultimate Team game mode was first introduced in FIFA 09 (year 2009) and can be played online against other gamers or offline against the AI (artificial intelligence).