EA’s new football simulator, FIFA 22, has been officially unveiled, and it looks like the company is putting new technologies at the service of current-gen versions of the game, unlocking a lot of new possibilities for the football franchise. While it’s unlikely that FIFA 22 will be a gigantic leap for the franchise, it looks like EA is trying to use the new hardware to do a lot more with the series and continue to fine-tune the gameplay.
FIFA has already caused a lot of ink to flow this year before this revelation. EA found itself in the water after it was alleged that the publisher was trying to aggressively push players to use FIFA’s loot boxes. The company has denied these allegations, but many are still wondering if the series is managing its monetization in a truly ethical way, regardless of the aggressiveness with which it is pushed. Nevertheless, this bad press did not prevent Fifa from coming back in force later this year.
FIFA 22 was revealed by EA and while there’s no raw gameplay in the first trailer, it’s likely that there will be more to show at EA Play later this month. On Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and Google Stadia, the game will use EA’s new HyperMotion technology and proprietary machine learning to “deliver the most realistic, smooth, and responsive football experience.” FIFA 22 will be released on October 1, 2021 and will feature Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé as a cover sportsman.
EA Sports seems to be preparing for a big comeback of sports games, continuing not only to try to refine its already well-known franchises, such as FIFA but also to create new ones. EA has invested in a handful of developers to add new annualized sports franchises and even revive old franchises. With F1, College Football, and a new baseball franchise coming up, EA has positioned itself as one of the most valuable sports game publishers.
It remains to be seen whether FIFA 22 will radically upset the franchise, but it looks like it will be a new game that will improve the series in small steps. It’s unclear if the new animations provided by HyperMotion technology will really make the game more responsive, but it’s still exciting for fans of the franchise who want the most immersive sports game experience possible. EA has a lot of valuable technologies that it can exploit, as demonstrated by the theft of FIFA 21’s source code, and the game will likely be a flashy technical showcase on the new consoles. It is not yet known if some of these technologies will appear in other franchises or if they will be exclusive to FIFA 22, but it is possible that they could contribute to the development of other upcoming sports games on a technical level.
