FIFA 23 to feature cross-play & big World Cup plans leaked
EA SPORTSEA SPORTS is preparing to finally activate cross-play between PlayStation, Xbox, and PC players with the launch of FIFA 23, according to a report.
According to an exclusive story from Tom Henderson, on Xfire, there will be a number of major changes announced by Electronic Arts in the coming months.
There has been a very public back and forth between EA and FIFA in relation to the game’s licensing agreement. On one hand, FIFA has stated that they would like to continue the relationship without exclusivity, meaning they could remain part of the game series but also sell their naming rights to other companies in the gaming space.
It would, however, cost EA a reported $1 billion every four years to continue down this path, even with exclusivity being stripped. Conversely, EA has been looking for other solutions, with EA SPORTS FC being touted as a possible new name.
Andrew Wilson, the CEO of Electronic Arts, has also been quoted in a meeting with staff, saying that he views their series as being bigger than the football institution itself – putting a potential renewal in limbo.
EA SPORTSWill FIFA 23 have cross-play?
Tom Henderson has revealed that the next installment, FIFA 23, will include cross-play.
In recent years, EA has not even given the possibility for players to come together with the same brand of console – for example, Xbox Series X players had a different game version than those on Xbox One.
That move in particular was very difficult for many fans to understand, given that other comparable franchises such as Call of Duty or standalone games Apex Legends and Fortnite offer cross-play to some degree.
On top of that, some exciting FIFA-exclusive content for the World Cup will also feature in FIFA 23, according to the report on Xfire. This includes World Cup content for both the men’s and women’s game, which would represent a massive step forward for inclusivity in the series.
EA SPORTSIn FIFA 22, EA made it possible to create women’s teams in Pro Clubs for the very first time. Members of the female game have been available to play with in offline modes such as Kick-Off as part of their national teams, so a World Cup feature was only a matter of time.
Hypermotion Technology, which added thousands of new animations in FIFA 22, will also get a facelift. The development team will reportedly be scrapping Xsens suits in favor of capturing animations from real footballers using stadium cameras.
These changes will tick off some things on player wishlists, but there’s still one question that remains to be seen… Will the next game be free?