About FIFA 23
FIFA 23 is the newest football simulation game from EA Sports. The game builds on its predecessors while improving mostly on graphics and player animations. In addition to that, the developer has added a World Cup mode, due to the 2023 World Cup in Qatar and women’s football. The FIFA 23 box cover displays Kylian Mbappé and Samantha Kerr. FIFA 23 will be the last football game by EA under the FIFA name; next year will be the first iteration of EA Sports FC.
EA Sports FC is the most well-known football game in the world. For over 30 years, fans and gamers have been able to play as their favorite football player. The game has undergone quite an evolution in the past thirty years, mostly in terms of mechanics and graphics. Let's take a look at what FIFA 23 brought this year.
When did FIFA 23 get released? And on what platforms?
FIFA 23 was released on the 26th of September for early adopters, those who bought the Ultimate Edition. The official worldwide release was set on the 30th of September 2022. The game is playable on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Stadia, and the Nintendo Switch.
Cross-play is possible between the various consoles and the PC for the first time this year. However, the trading market is not shared between the platforms, which was heavily criticized by game journalists. As the PC player base is much smaller, it's generally harder to get good players or trade your way up to a good one.
FIFA 23 has two versions: the Standard Edition and the Ultimate Edition. Apart from early access, the Ultimate Edition gives you a slight edge when starting to build your Ultimate Team.
New and returning features in FIFA 23
As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest additions is cross-play: the ability to play the game versus people on other platforms. If you own a PlayStation 5, you can play versus people on an Xbox Series X/S and PC. And the other way around of course.
Another new feature is Hypermotion 2.0. Hypermotion was introduced in FIFA 22 and described as more realistic player animations. EA Sports used real-life football players and equipped them with sensors to track their motions. Hypermotion 2.0 builds on top of that, and according to EA they have used cameras during professional football matches to track player movements and implement those in the game.
One of the biggest changes in the gameplay in FIFA 23 is the change to the position modifier system. Instead of having to use a position modifier card, players now have a primary and secondary position they can play on. Making the system more versatile in basis.
Last but not least: FIFA 23 has a different chemistry system than its predecessors. Every player can link with each other, based on the competition they play in, the country they are from, or the club they play for. Thus, players will have an easier time linking up their squad in Ultimate Team and creating optimal chemistry.
Game modes in FIFA 23
As you might have expected, FIFA 23 contains some of the most popular modes of the last few iterations: Volta Football, Pro Clubs, Kick-Off, Tournaments, Skill Games, Practice Arena, Seasons, Coöp Season and Online Friendlies. We obviously cannot forget the most popular game mode: FIFA Ultimate Team. Next to that, this year FIFA has a World Cup Mode for both men and women, due to the male World Cup taking place in 2022, and the female world cup taking place in 2023.
FIFA 23 Ultimate Team
Just like in the past, FIFA 23 Ultimate Team lets you configure your football dream team. With your assembled squad, you can play different modes, both offline and online. By playing games, you earn rewards that can strengthen your squad.
Strengthening your squad is not only done through playing. You can spend FIFA points on the transfer market, and open FIFA packs that you can buy directly with your FIFA points or earn by playing. Some of the most well-known packages you can gather by playing are Team of the Week and Team of the Year. Throughout the FIFA year, EA also releases Promotions (Promos), which are often a team of players that have done exceptionally well in real-life football in that period.
FIFA Ultimate Team Moments
One of the biggest new additions to FIFA 23 Ultimate Team is a new game mode called FUT Moments. In this mode, you play short (iconic) moments from either football history or ones that EA creates. These are played offline and are perfect for players that only have a short amount of time to play.
Finishing these moments rewards the player with FIFA packs that can be opened and used in the online Ultimate Team mode. Very similar to something like Division Rivals.
FIFA World Cup mode
The World Cup mode in FIFA 23 will be available for anyone that purchased the game. The mode will represent the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which takes place from November 21st to the 18th of December in Qatar.
Together with the World Cup mode, EA will also introduce its new FIFA World Cup FUT Hero items. These are cards of players that did something exceptional or memorable during the World Cup. These cards will be in Marvel-esque style, according to EA.
Women in FIFA 23
For the first time in EA Sports FC’s history, the game will have women's football in FIFA 23. Some of the top competitions are made available with the release of the game. Next to that, the World Cup mode will also have the national women's teams that will participate in the Women’s World Cup from July 20th to August 20th, 2023 in Australia and New Zealand.
The last FIFA game, FIFA 24 will be called EA Sports FC
In May of 2022, EA Sports announced that its iconic FIFA video game series will be called EA Sports FC moving forward. The name change occurred after an ending license agreement with the football federation FIFA. According to several sources, EA and FIFA couldn't come to a financial agreement regarding the price for the name usage. EA paid about 150 million per year for the usage of the name and wanted to stay with the same rate. However, FIFA wanted double that moving forward.
With the agreement coming to an end, it is also the end of an era. FIFA 23 will be the last known FIFA game made by EA. It is rumored however that FIFA is currently working on its own football simulation game, which could make life very confusing in the future.
As for EA Sports FC. EA Sports has promised that nothing will change gameplay-wise and that real player names and club names will stay. In 2023, EA will release more information about the first EA Sports FC game.
