Everything we know about FIFA 21

Over the course of the annual franchises, it is difficult to overtake FIFA series. Simulation of the beautiful game has come in leaps and bounds since the days of the original Playstation and beyond, and EA has made Pro Evolution Soccer series runner-up in a two-horse race for nearly two generations. . That said, there has been some dissatisfaction from hardcore fans in recent years that the game is starting to stagnate, with too much focus on the online-only Ultimate Team mode and not enough on the more traditional modes, and a lack of evolution in gameplay. This continues from the turn of the current generation after a great generation PS3 and Xbox 360.

However, this year FIFA will come with a generational leap. With a generational leap, it is possible to rebuild the game for the next generation and hopefully return to the glory days of the previous generation. Here's everything we know about this year's game, FIFA 21.

The faces of FIFA 21

The FIFA Series has always excelled at presenting football, providing bespoke graphics and images, using official licenses from leagues around the world. This allows you to faithfully play in all of the major European leagues, while players from teams, kits and certain stadiums are faithfully recreated. FIFA 21 will be no different, with a slew of club and player licenses that are faithfully recreated. EA Play's Feel Next Level trailer for the June 18 EA Play event features live footage from Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park and Liverpool's Anfield, meaning both are likely to be strongly featured throughout.

In recent years FIFA was missing some licenses to which the series had previously had access. One was for Italian giant Juventus, which gave the team the name Piemonte Calcio, and marking the first time in 25 years that FIFA could not use the name Juventus. Legendary Argentinian clubs Boca Juniors and River Plate were also missing, all three due to exclusive deals with rival game PSE. It is currently unclear whether any of the teams will be back in this year's game.

Screenshot via EA

The cover star is also hotly contested each year, often with the biggest stars or transfers from the previous year. Last year, Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard was the main cover star following his transfer from Chelsea, while Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk and French legend Zinedine Zidane also starred in special editions of the game. While no cover star has yet emerged for FIFA 21, EA's Feel Next Level trailer featured French prodigy Kylian Mbappe, making him the most likely candidate to be on the cover. .

The game engine in FIFA 21

With development of the game well advanced, improvements and new features should be announced soon. However, there is still some time before the release date, so details are currently very slim on what you can expect from the current and next-gen versions of FIFA 21.

The FIFA series has been using EA's internal Frostbite 3 engine since FIFA 17, and the Ignite engine before that for this current generation. From the images EA provided so far, it looks like the new game will continue on the Frostbite engine, although other developers on the EA team have used other engines to power their games, this which means that a change could still occur. EA is also emphasizing cross-play in the next generation, where you can challenge and play with other players no matter what platform they are playing on.

While this is unlikely to make much of a difference to the player base on consoles that remain large throughout the year, it will be of great benefit to PC gamers who typically have a much smaller player pool. with which to compete. It also means that friends can still play games with each other even if they have different consoles. If EA also makes the jump to cross-play between generations, it likely means that the engine used for both generations of consoles will be the same, although this particular feature has yet to be confirmed.

FIFA 21 game modes

FIFA has put a lot of emphasis in recent years on its Ultimate Team (or FUT) mode, and this year looks similar. The game is available for pre-order, and each of the editions comes with rewards for FUT. This means you can expect EA to continue to make strides here for players to build their squads. However, one of the rewards for the Champions and Ultimate editions comes with a pre-order bonus described as “Homegrown Talent: Local Youth Prospect with World-Class Potential”.

While this may just be one of the regular regenerated players in the game, the wording implies that Career Mode could see an overhaul of the youth squads and academy scouting systems, as local young hopefuls are missing. currently specifically in the mode. With a number of issues hampering career mode last year including buggy press conferences, clubs reportedly playing third chain teams throughout the season for no reason, and being fired as manager all too easily. , EA is likely not to repeat the same problems.

Last year saw the introduction of VOLTA, the mode inspired by FUTSAL. However, fans may not have responded to it as well as they could, so it's unclear if he'll be back this year.

When will FIFA 21 be released?

FIFA 21 will be released on October 9 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC via Origin and, for the first time in franchise history, Steam. It will allow crossplay with all platforms. Those who pre-order the Champions or Ultimate Digital editions of the game will receive 3-day early access to the game, while EA Access and Origin Access subscribers will have access to the Play First game trial starting October 1.

There is currently no release date for next-gen editions of the game, but those who play the current-gen versions will be able to play subsequent generations without the need to purchase upgrades using the new system. Dual Entitlement from EA. The only caveat with this offer for PS5 users is that they will need to purchase the disc edition of the console in order to use it if they also have a disc copy of FIFA 21 on PS4.