The Bundesliga is moving the open qualifier for its German eFootball singles championship into the Ultimate Team mode of EA Sports FC 27, according to an Oct. 5 release from the Bundesliga Group. The competition, renamed the VBL Player Championship by WOW, starts Oct. 28 and replaces VBL Open.

In the new mode, players compete with their own Ultimate Team built from Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga players while representing one of the 36 clubs. The league's page lists four ladders of about a week each, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 and Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, with the last ending March 2. The top 15 players in each ladder advance to playoffs on April 3-4, according to the league's season graphic.

The final on April 16-17, 2027, at XPERION Hamburg has 16 places. Eight go to players from the VBL Club Championship and eight are decided in the Player Championship playoffs. The prize pool is €100,000 (about $112,250), the same as last season. Both finalists qualify for the FC Pro World Championship.

PEGI rates EA Sports FC 27 at 16 with the descriptor "Paid random items," stating that the game "received a PEGI 16 because it features the ability to purchase loot boxes." The USK, the binding rating in Germany, rates the game suitable from 12.

Felix Rentschler, Head of Virtual Bundesliga, said: "The minimum age for taking part in the VBL Player Championship is 16." He said the mode "will generally use Bundesliga player items from EA SPORTS FC 27 Ultimate Team" and that "there will be squad restrictions defined by the Bundesliga." He did not say whether players may use cards drawn from packs or bought with FC Points, or what the restrictions limit. Details of the format, the league says, "will be published here in due time before the start."

Monica Dinsmore, Head of Esports at EA, said the redesign is meant to ensure "that competitors at every level have a clear and fair path to prove themselves." Tobias Meyer, head of editorial at PC Games, wrote in an Oct. 5 column that Ultimate Team is "the absolute opposite of a fair competition."

The league did not disclose how many players took part in VBL Open.