Electronic Arts (EA): In EA Sports FC 26, AI-controlled goalkeepers use a system trained through reinforcement learning to decide where to position themselves inside the goal — making their behavior more realistic than prior rule-based approaches. The system was shipped in 2025 and was the subject of a talk at GDC 2026. | AI Trace
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In EA Sports FC 26, AI-controlled goalkeepers use a system trained through reinforcement learning to decide where to position themselves inside the goal — making their behavior more realistic than prior rule-based approaches. The system was shipped in 2025 and was the subject of a talk at GDC 2026.
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Developed by SEED in collaboration with the EA Sports FC team, the goalkeeper positioning system uses a designer-centered reinforcement learning pipeline — meaning game designers can tune the reward signals that shape the AI's behavior. The system applies only to positioning decisions in specific situations, not to saves or catches. An associated academic paper (arXiv 2510.23216) was published by the team. GDC 2026 featured a session titled "Reinforcement Learning in FC 26: Shipping Human-Like Goalkeepers with a Designer-First Approach."
