2023-09-29 06:50:41
It’s a great classic at the end of September, every year for 30 years: the release of the new football game from EA Sports. Formerly called “FIFA”, under the partnership signed between the American developer of the game and the international football federation, the game, which is released this Friday worldwide on PC and consoles (Xbox, Playstation and Switch), may well have abandoned its iconic name, it remains the same, with a few nuances. We’ll explain all that to you.
From “Fifa” to “EAFC”, why is the game changing its name?
Gamers who have become accustomed to spotting the “FIFA” franchise on store shelves may need to look twice this year. The latest from EA Sports is called “EA Sports FC 24”, a change planned for many months and which comes into effect this season. The reason: the non-renewal of the contract between EA Sports and the international football federation, which brought in €85 million per year to Fifa. A small revolution which stops at the cosmetic aspect. Also note that Kylian Mbappé, who played the main role on the cover of the game for three years, was replaced this summer by the Norwegian Erling Haaland.
“Dropping the FIFA name for EA allows it to have its own identity, because FIFA is linked to the international federation and to have this new identity is to start again with something even more global,” said the Former player Laura Georges, ambassador of the game, during the big launch party organized in Paris at the Palais de Tokyo on September 21.
The players arrive in “Ultimate Team”
Since 2009, FIFA’s most popular game mode – and the one that brings in the most money overall for EA Sports – has been “Ultimate Team”, the virtual card game that allows players to build, over time, the year, their dream team. And to be able to play with it. The big news of EAFC24 is that women are arriving in “UT” for the very first time, after being integrated into the game in 2015.
Six women’s championships (France, Germany, Italy, England, USA and Spain) have been added in their entirety, and teams will now be able to be mixed, with male and female players being evaluated on an equal footing (e.g. the best player – Putellas – has the same rating as the best players – De Bruyne, Mbappé and Haaland – 91). This notably offers the possibility of linking together players who play for the women’s and men’s sections of the same club (for example, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kylian Mbappé from PSG).
“Having the national teams and the championships in the game is great,” says Laura Georges. It’s promotion for our football, it’s the consideration we give to the girls and with Ultimate mode, having the possibility of having known players with known players in the same team is fair additional promotion. »
A change that did not necessarily happen gently: a small part of the community, resistant to this change, massively railed against the integration of women in the game. The Norwegian Ada Hegerberg paid the price, sharing the insults she had received from a player visibly very unhappy with the performance of the Lyonnaise card in his team, her character was the victim of bugs.
HypermotionV, Playstyles+: big words in the service of realism
Like every year, the “gameplay” (the way the game is played) is marginally improved, benefiting in particular from the performance of new generation consoles (Playstation 5, Xbox Series X). In addition to the generally improved graphics, with textures and renderings that are ever prettier to see, there are two main innovations to note. The first, the introduction of “HypermotionV” technology, which replaced and perfected motion capture by analyzing and pulling movements and animations directly from matches that took place in real life. The ways in which the avatars of football stars move are, to put it simply, all the more faithful to their real movements.
Another way to refine the unique character of certain players is the introduction of “Playstyles” and “Playstyles+”, traits found in the way certain players play and which can greatly affect their way of performing a particular action or such movement (a tackle, an interception, a finesse or force shot, for example). 34 “Playstyles” are introduced in the game.
But also…
Highly anticipated and requested by the community, the ability to evolve the cards of our favorite players in “UT” yourself, by completing a certain number of objectives, is now possible via the “Evolutions” mode. Ultimate Team fans will also see five former glories of French football introduced as “Heroes” or “Icons” cards, which allow retired players to be brought back to the field: Franck Ribéry, Ludovic Giuly and Bixente Lizarazu for men, Sonia Bompastor and Camille Abily among the women. The other modes, such as career mode and “Pro Clubs” mode, have been modified rather marginally.
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