The new FIFA, the world's most important football simulator, arrives this Friday in early access on consoles and PC. This is how this same article would have started just a year ago, but talking about FIFA – as we have been doing for more than 30 years – is no longer entirely correct. This new installment of the franchise is the first of a new stage under the name EA Sports FC. A change that comes after Electronic Arts and the International Football Federation failed to reach an agreement to renew the license.
According to the information that has emerged about this disagreement, Electronic Arts paid 150 million dollars annually to have the official license. But this year, FIFA wanted to double this figure and, in addition, they wanted the licensing agreement to be non-exclusive. This means that other companies could also develop video games with the official FIFA seal and name. So, faced with these new conditions, Electronic Arts rejected the deal and renamed its star franchise.
Although EA Sports FC is still FIFA, whatever it says in the title. This new installment – EA Sports FC 24 – is what FIFA 24 should be and, below, we review the main new features.
Women's football has been present in the Electronic Arts sports simulator for several years now, specifically since 2015 with FIFA 16. At that time, several teams were introduced and, over the years, EA has been adding more and more teams. . Last year, with FIFA 23, two women's leagues came to the game for the first time: the English Barclays Women's Super League and the French Division 1 Arkema.
Well, in this first edition of EA Sports FC 24 the leap is substantial: three more leagues are added to what already exists, among which is the Spanish women's soccer league. In addition, for the first time, women's football also reaches the Ultimate Team modes with 1,600 players with real statistics.
In fact, from now on, Ultimate Team modes will be mixed, since users will be able to join male and female players on their team. There will not be a separate women's league from the men's league in EA Sports FC 24's flagship mode.
The main novelty of the star mode of FIFA – Ultimate Team – is the possibility of evolving players. Through specific challenges, users will be able to improve the characteristics of their favorite players so they do not have to change their ideal lineup. If you like a player who is not among the best, you can evolve him to get him to the highest level.
The only handicap with this novelty is that, once you evolve a character, that card will no longer be transferable and you will not be able to change it. And this applies to both male and female player cards.
Another novelty of this installment is the change of commentators. Manolo Lama and Paco González, who have been the Spanish voice of FIFA since 1998, will no longer appear in EA Sports FC 24. The two classics make way for DAZN commentator Miguel Ángel Román and streamer Mario Alonso Gallardo – better known as DjMaRiiO -, who has more than 700,000 followers on Twitch and 9 million on YouTube.
For several years it has seemed impossible to make FIFA more realistic. Technology has its limits, but Electronic Arts is not giving up. This part of the article is where complex and futuristic words like HyperMotionV, PlayStyles optimized by Opta and the Frostbite graphics engine begin. But basically it is easy to understand: more details in the players and animations, better physics for the ball and unique playing styles for each type of player. In short: EA Sports FC 24 is the most detailed and realistic installment of the franchise to date. Like is logic.
HyperMotion technology was introduced in FIFA22 and is a motion capture system that, together with artificial intelligence, allows the creation of more realistic animations and movements for the 22 players on the field. Well, if FIFA23 released HyperMotion 2, now it's HyperMotionV's turn. In this case, the system has been nourished by 180 high-level matches from competitions such as LaLiga, the Premier League and the UEFA Women's and Men's Champions League.
On the other hand, the Frostbite graphics engine has been updated to offer more detail in the movement of clothing and the interaction between players. In addition, through artificial intelligence, the physics of the ball, the players' hands and all body movements are now simulated. These improvements apply to a total of 1,200 players, the best in the world.
The official release date for EA Sports FC 24 is September 29, 2023. It will arrive on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC. But the most eager ones can start playing today, September 22, with the Ultimate edition, which costs 30 euros more than the base version.
