Players have been asking us for a long time to add the ability to send footballers on loan. The main reason why players need this is to be able to develop their youth. Because in their own club, it's risky to field inexperienced footballers, whereas on loan, a prospect could gain experience.
It is important for us that new mechanics add new interesting dilemmas to the game, that players make interesting decisions, and that the game world becomes more alive. That's why we needed time to plan loan mechanics that meet our standards of interest and at the same time don't provide players with an ultimate tool to exploit.
When we started working on FTGW, we decided to implement the loaning mechanics first. As always with new mechanics like this, we're making them part of the game world, where if it's available to the player, it should also be available to other teams.
The player sends a footballer on loan
You can choose any of your footballers and press the "Loan out" button. The game will try to pick two clubs that could potentially put the footballer on the field:
- One club - from your league or higher. A footballer would be happy to play there, because in higher leagues footballers get more experience. Therefore, it will not be necessary to convince the footballer to get there. That is, the cost of Glory will be minimal. However, the level of other footballers in this club will be higher than yours. Therefore, the chances that he will enter the field will not be very high.
- The other club will be eager to have your footballer in their lineup. Often, this will be a club from a lower league. Despite the footballer's reluctance to play in a lower league, they are more likely to gain real experience. To persuade him, you will have to spend a significant amount of Glory. But if you have big plans for this footballer, then it's worth it.
We don't force other clubs to use your footballer. Clubs independently decide whether to field them in matches or not. Therefore, there's no guarantee that the footballer will gain experience. But in a weaker club, he is more likely to see regular playtime.
Footballers on loan earn both general experience and specialization experience for each match they participate in. If a loaned-out footballer gains a new specialization level, you will not be able to continue the game until you choose a new specialization ability for him. In other words, you retain control over the footballer's development; the game won't make decisions for you.
Additionally, interest from other clubs in this footballer grows with each match he participates in. Therefore, if you intend to develop a footballer for future sale, sending them on loan makes sense. However, it might cost you Glory.
Of course, if you play in the Amateur League, no one will take your footballers on loan.
Other teams also send footballers on loan
During the open transfer window, other teams can also send their footballers on loan. If they have players aged 22 or younger who lack regular playing time, these clubs search for suitable teams where their footballers can gain valuable match experience.
In the footballer's profile on the Career screen, you can see when and at which clubs they were on loan.
Other teams offer you to take their footballers on loan
You may also receive an offer to take a footballer on loan. If an AI club sees that you might be interested in their footballer, they send you an offer.
There can be a temptation here. On one hand, you're trying to develop your own footballers. On the other hand, if you're playing in a lower league and have ambitious goals, a good footballer in your team can be beneficial. Especially if you don't have many footballers overall, they're getting fatigued, and they need a solid replacement.
However, there's one catch: to accept a footballer into your team, you'll need to pay a small fee in Glory. This showcases that you genuinely intend to provide the player with experience rather than just taking them for the sake of it.
However, when the footballer returns to his home club at the start of the transfer window, you will be rewarded in Glory for:
- every match the footballer played (even if it was just a brief appearance)
- every level the footballer attained
- every specialization level the footballer achieved.
In other words, by taking a footballer on loan and providing them with match experience, you can earn Glory.
Final words
From now on, loaning will be a fully integrated part of the game, on par with transfers. You will be able to send footballers to gain experience in other clubs. Other clubs will also be able to send their footballers on loan to other clubs, including your club as well. This will allow you to navigate some seasons more confidently or earn Glory.
We've implemented this mechanic quite a while ago in the development version. It has already been tested and we enjoy playing with it. We're confident that you'll enjoy it too.
How to follow the development progress?
First and foremost, visit the game's page and add it to your wishlist. This way, you will receive an email from Steam when the game goes into Early Access or Full Release.
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