Sorare ‘26.5 Breakdown
Figure I’ll keep the same structure as before so here we go…
I’ve split this into a few components — Positive, Neutral, and Negative — and tried to order things from best to worst using my scoring system where everything is made up and the points don’t matter.
Get Bhab’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
First things first…
The Positive
- (+100) Splitting PvP (Leaderboards) vs PvE (Hot Streaks)
This seems like a sensible decision. Adds a new element of strategy into the game, and by having multiple game modes it opens up new possibilities for customization of each to mold them into their proper form.
- (+75) New Card Tiers
Previously announced, but I do think the macro structure of the tiers is much better, hard to tell if they got the micro levels right just yet without seeing it put into practice. Just want to reiterate, the main goal should be to prevent bad players from being assigned a higher tier, accidentally rewarding a good player in a lower tier is not nearly as severe a problem. If they get this right though I think it has the possibility of greatly improving sentiment.
- (+50) J and K League Individual In-Season Comps
I’m a firm believer having dedicated leagues where we have full licenses is always a good thing. (People don’t play fantasy sports across different leagues, that is an afterthought only applicable to Sorare.)
- (+25) Improved Hot Streaks
A solid change, I’m not personally a big fan of PvE in general and I think it’s just a nice quality of life improvement for anyone already targeting streaks, so I don’t see if moving the needle for anyone. More rewards for more lineups hitting (to incentivize more buying) makes sense. A reward for smashing even if early in the streak is a nice gesture. Opening the comp when even one team is playing means you might get an extra gameweek or two of utility, removing some occasional frustration. (I personally think the top rewards are too high though and should be in Leaderboards instead)
- (+10) Super Rare / Unique Hot Streaks
The option is a positive, just don’t see it being that used by current SR/U owners. With how much money needs to be spent on SR/U I think almost everyone will be hoping they can return some money on the Leaderboard. Definitely feels like it’s more targeted at non-SR users to get them to make the jump from Rare to SR.
- (+5) Leaderboard Lineup Restrictions
Trying to ensure a more diverse set of users win something is a positive. I just don’t think restricting how many lineups submitted is the optimal answer. I would rather you let people submit basically any number of lineups and instead restrict the number of lineups they can win with (ie. only their best lineup gets a prize). Player cards are like raffle tickets. Users can buy more cards to increase their odds but they don’t win a bigger prize. They will self-regulate purchases to balance against possible ROI.
- (+?) Collecting Missions
TBD on this, but promoting collecting is (hopefully) a positive
The Neutral
- (+0) Missing Argentina licenses
Some people would say this should go in the negative section, but I’m putting it in Neutral zone since I don’t believe the blame falls on Sorare for this one. Also, it wasn’t eliminated by choice, and if circumstances in Argentina change this could come back in the future.
- (+0) Classic Slot Confirmation
I could give this a slight positive score, but game design components lasting more than 1 season should be the norm, so keeping status quo gets zero. You get positive points once we get MORE classic slots.
- (+0) Instant Reward Claim
It’s a good experience for the users to instant claim, shocked this stayed as it can only end poorly for Sorare though (as seen with the false decisive incident). Zero points for status quo again though.
- (+0) No More Divisions
Couldn’t decide where to place this one, there are positives and negatives to divisions I go back and forth. Being able to Moneyball a lineup and hit the lottery on a one off gameweek can be great in one single div, but users not being able to win anything via leaderboard when they are consistently outclassed can be not so great. I think I tilt towards having divisions personally, but only if it’s done differently. Either place people based off of multiple gameweeks, or just give them the option to self select which div depending on their preferred playstyle (lower div against similar skill for less rewards or higher div against more competitive for bigger rewards).
- (+0) Special Event Comps
Uhhh… who is asking for these? I can’t even remember the last time someone brought one up let alone asked for it to come back.
- (+0) Sealing and Vaulting
Somewhat TBD with what changes they make, but anticipate a give and take here. They will probably lower reward % while adding bonuses to Hot Streak rewards so we end up in a similar spot. (Again, please let us make offers on vaulted cards.)
- (+0) L15 to L10
Probably better / more accurate? I just don’t think it will be easy to feel the difference. Getting the tiering system right is more palpable.
The Negative
- (-10) Multi-Club and Cap 260 Bonus
An almost negligible thing that I don’t ever notice, but I still disagree with the principal of it from a competitive standpoint. Don’t think these should exist. I could understand it from a business perspective if Sorare was doing it to get people to buy more diverse cards, but realistically I don’t think anyone is going out and buying other clubs or crap cards just to target this bonus so what is really the point.
- (-20) Removal of XP rewards
I despise what has become of XP. I get that we as a community opened this can of worms by talking about rewarding different amounts of XP forever ago, but it just keeps getting worse. One of the main benefits to holding cards long term is the advantage that comes with higher XP. But with no passive XP anymore (add this to vaulted cards at least please), and an impossible amount of gallery cards to sustain with reward XP, we just end up with more cards collecting dust losing what should be an advantage. And now we have to get the XP from Daily Missions that I don’t give a flying fuck about.
- (-100) Still missing dedicated league Classic Comps
Wasn’t actually expecting it to happen, especially not during this particular update, but it would’ve been a nice surprise to find out we were getting a dedicated Classic MLS Comp (with a hint to other classic leagues in the future). I loathe to play my classic MLS in All Star and I’m fatigued already playing my Prem guys in Champ. You have poisoned the long term sentiment with the current Classic structure.
- (-1,000) Season 6 of DNPs
Would’ve been a worse score again but gave us a breadcrumb with a later deadline. Had 6+ months to sort this out (after finally acknowledging after 5 years) and waited until the last month before season kickoff to throw out terrible ideas. Embarrassing management of the biggest issue on the platform. Let’s pray they get their act together in time for Sorare ‘27.
In Summary
The changes that were actually made were largely positive in my opinion, my complaints above are targeting what I believe should have been strategic priorities and have not been changed yet.
Plus 265 minus 20 = 245 points overall for changes made
