Friday marks the release of EA Sports’ FIFA 23, the 30th and final installment of the popular soccer video game series. EA and FIFA’s partnership is set to end, and next year’s installment of the game will be called EA Sports FC.
Ahead of that major change, the final iteration of “FIFA” will have a few major updates, including a focus on Women’s Football and the inclusion of the upcoming World Cup in the game.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Kantcho Doskov, EA’s FIFA gameplay design director, detailed how his team used motion capture technology in two full 90 minute competitive matches to better recreate player movement. “This is the first time our team did motion capture with an actual game,” he said, adding that the company captured the movement of women for the first time. Women’s soccer is a major focus of FIFA 23, and those players should feel more realistic than ever.
As part of this push forward with the women’s game, Chelsea’s Sam Kerr joins Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé on the cover of the “Ultimate Edition” of the game.
This year’s game also comes in a unique year for the sport, as the World Cup in Qatar will be played in the winter, rather than the summer. That opened up an opportunity for EA, as the World Cup will be played after, not before, the game’s release. The game includes an exclusive World Cup mode, which Doskov calls “the most exciting addition” for him. The game will also feature special edition World Cup cards in FIFA Ultimate Team mode.
For some fans, the most notable inclusion was announced a week ago when EA revealed that Ted Lasso and AFC Richmond are included in the game.
This year’s game will also be the first in which PlayStation 5 and Xbox players will be able to compete cross-console.
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