EA Sports, makers of those absurdly expensive FIFA games (and pretty much all other sports games out there), has unveiled a first look at EA Sports FC 24, accompanied by an official release date. EA Sports FC 24 – the publisher’s first football title without the FIFA moniker attached in over twenty years – officially releases 29 September 2023 on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC, and Switch.
Out with the old, in with the new
Considering that this is EA Sports’30th attempt to get a football game right, we’ve all grown accustomed to the publisher’s promises that the next game would be their best yet. Even without a FIFA logo slapped on the front, that hasn’t changed. EA’s PR team is essentially just reusing the same keywords, promising EA Sports FC 24 would offer the most “true-to-football” move sets and animations yet.
That’s apparently thanks to Hypermotion V, the company’s latest and greatest when it comes to footballing animation engines, setting itself above FIFA 23’s own engine – pulling volumetric data from over 180 professional matches to showcase “ground-breaking realism.”
“EA SPORTS has defined interactive football for 30 years, and now we’re bringing fans closer to the sport they love through EA SPORTS FC,” said Cam Weber, President of EA SPORTS. “This is the next great chapter in our mission to create the future of football with fans everywhere, and it begins with FC 24 delivering incredible authenticity combined with a massive leap in gameplay innovation. Welcome to the Club.”
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Besides the use of Hypermotion V, EA Sports has confirmed the return of footballing leagues such as La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Premier League. The big one – UEFA’s many competitions – has consented to an exclusive contract renewal, meaning EA Sports FC 24 is the only place to get any sort of UEFA experience in. a videogame.
And rather than hit Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V a bunch of times, EA has opted to finally make some much-needed changes to the Switch version of the game. For the first time, Switch players will have access to the Frostbite engine, something those players have been patiently waiting for since FIFA 19. That should equate to some major gameplay changes, and possibly even allow for crossplay across all the consoles, though there’s a chance Switch will be held back again due to other hardware concerns.
Finally, we get to the bit EA Sports cares most about: buying the game. There are currently two editions of the game available for pre-order – Standard and Ultimate. In South Africa, the Standard edition will cost R1,100 while the Ultimate will set you back R1,500. If that sounds like a lot, even for EA, that’s because it is. In fact, it’s the most expensive footballing title the publisher has ever released. They’ve gotta do something to earn back that FIFA revenue, right?