FIFA 21 is coming this year, it has been confirmed by American publishers EA Sports. This brings tremendous anticipation in the mind of FIFA lovers all around the globe.
EA has confirmed that FIFA 21 is on track for an October 9 release date, which is what we expected because it’s consistent with previous years. We’ve now seen a primary FIFA 21 trailer, too, revealed at the EA Play event in June 2020. But it doesn’t give much away, though we do know the sport is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X needless to say, likely after the initial current-gen release to tie in with the estimated November release dates of both consoles. According to news reports, EA confirmed the September release date (which is really Q2, means July to September) in an end-of-fiscal year report.
A throwback to FIFA 20, the current FIFA game
The report also detailed that FIFA 20, the present FIFA game, reached an enormous 25 million unique players. This bodes well for the longer term of FIFA. We already know FIFA 20 has been received fairly well, on the entire, delivering a set of latest features and tuning up some lacking areas of the gorgeous game. But we’d be lying if we didn’t mean that there are still a couple of sticking points that fans will certainly want to ascertain improved within the next iteration.
In FIFA 20, the addition of Volta, the tweaks to defending and therefore the electric soundtrack helped it stand out after years of negligible updates, but that visually the sport still doesn’t stick out year on year, and therefore the career mode is in dire need of an update. With PES snapping at its heels gameplay-wise (and removing from FIFA’s once-pristine licensing agreements) the 2 titans of soccer gaming couldn’t be closer.
But enough about FIFA 20 for now. We’re getting to run through everything we all know thus far about FIFA 21. We’ll specialise in the challenges thus far this year, the possible cross-platform release and what we’d wish to see from EA’s next entry during this legendary sports franchise.
Will this year’s version put distance between PES and FIFA or bring them closer than ever? Here’s EA’s official gameplay reveal trailer for FIFA 21 and Madden NFL 21
EA has revealed haptic feedback support for PS5, too. EA officials described-
“A new DualSense controller on PlayStation 5 with rich and responsive haptic feedback deepens the gameplay experience letting you feel the rhythm of the game in your hands.”
EA Sports Officials on PS5 release of FIFA 21
When will FIFA 21 be released?
It’s only recently been confirmed that, yes, FIFA 21 will be released globally on October 9th. EA will follow the same release schedule as previous years, which usually places the yearly FIFA game in the last weeks of September, this time has been delayed by almost 10 days, despite the coronavirus impact.
FIFA 20 was revealed in June and launched on September 27, 2019, with FIFA 18 launching on September 28 the year before.
On what platforms will FIFA 21 release?
EA has confirmed that FIFA 21 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X on 9th October 2020, it’s worth considering whether the sport is going to be cross-platform or not. The PS5 and Xbox Series X are going to be dropping during the vacation season (between October and December 2020), which puts FIFA 21 in a stimulating milieu. Both Sony and Microsoft have spoken about the importance of backwards compatibility, we will expect to ascertain the sport make the jump to the new consoles at some point, albeit it’s simply an upgraded digital and physical release of FIFA 21.
If you cast your minds back to the start of this console generation and the launch of the Xbox 360, you may remember that it boasted an exclusive FIFA game in FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup, so who knows, there could be something similar in the works for Euro 2020 / Euro 2021. On the other hand, UEFA’s rights are reserved by Konami, the publisher of PES, and the PES 2020 Euro 2020 Mode is currently live in-game.
When can you pre-order FIFA 21?
Gamers can pre-order FIFA 21 a number of months before the release date, with the pre-order period beginning on June 18 to coincide with the launch announcement of the game. There are usually a few inducements for gamers to pre-order the game, such as cheaper prices, early access and Ultimate Team perks.
What is our expectation from FIFA 21?
FIFA 20 is certainly one of the better games in the FIFA series, at least in recent memory. It added a noticeable set of systems, new modes like Volta and some clever tweaks to the in-game AI to keep things interesting, addressing the issues raised by players. Yet there’s always something else to improve in a game with such labyrinthine systems.
VOLTA upgrade
Whilst Volta was a great start, it’s achingly close to the incredible fun of FIFA Street, so if EA was prepared to iterate and update Volta and make it even more absurd and haptic then we’re sure that would go down a storm. Integrating both the street game and the realistic football FIFA is known for would create even more value for the player in the yearly release cycle.
New Icons
Each new FIFA title sees new Icons joining the roster of heroes from seasons gone by and FIFA 21 should be no different. Some of the more popular potential new Icons are David Beckham, Franz Beckenbauer, Oliver Kahn and Francesco Totti. They are currently available in PES, we’d love to have them in FIFA.
VAR
The introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is the biggest change to football in the modern era, with contentious decisions and moments now up for review. Despite first being rolled out in 2017, VAR has not been a feature in FIFA games, mainly due to the fact that the referee in the game is a computer, so not prone to human error. VAR would be one of the most exciting features of FIFA 21, if included.
Nevertheless, it is very much a massive part of the game now and EA will be wise to add some aesthetic VAR touches to the gameplay.
Career Mode improvements
In regards to what has been heavily requested following the previous game’s launch, players have honed in on updating the now-lacking career mode, a FIFA institution that still needs some polish. Despite the new features added in FIFA 20, it’s clear the system needs some kind of overhaul to keep it from feeling so painfully similar and lacklustre year on year.
Visual upgrades
Beyond that, it’s beginning to become clear that the visual upgrades between each FIFA near the top of this console generation became negligible, meaning that it might be great to ascertain a meaningful change in graphical fidelity in FIFA 2021. this may presumably come as a consequence of the arrival of latest consoles, which boast features like ray-tracing, better audio quality and SSDs for faster loading speeds, which can presumably be the foremost noticeable change.
License Agreements
Of course, it would be nice to see FIFA regain its licensing agreements so we don’t have to lose Juventus to PES in the next iteration, as well as the exclusive stadiums like Camp Nou that were missing from last year’s release. FUT is also becoming a growing concern with fans, more so than ever due to the transparency on pack opening odds and heat from national legal commissions around the globe that have caused quite a stir within the community.
Making the system fairer and packs less costly would definitely be appreciated by the global army of players. The inclusion of recent football’s most abrasive system will little question cause arguments and be particularly difficult to implement, but if EA is pushing for true Premier League realism, then it might make tons of sense.
What are your thoughts about FIFA 21? Let us know in the comment section below!
For more FIFA related news and updates, visit our Facebook page. Also, follow us on Instagram and Twitter for quick updates.
