EA Sports has revealed why they decided to call time on Alex Hunter’s Journey on FIFA.
Speaking to Dream Team Gaming, creative director Matt Prior said it was always their intention to have a trilogy – culminating in Hunter playing in the Champions League.
“We envisaged it three years ago now – and we always envisaged it as a trilogy because that’s a trope movies followed,” he said.
“We always envisaged it that each year would tell a different level of football. Year one was him breaking out into the professional game, year two was him spreading his wings and going to LA and Europe and year three was him competing in the ultimate goal in football – the Champions League.”
Amazingly, Piror revealed there was ‘no guarantee’ that EA would get the rights to the Champions League – which would have had serious implications in the game’s narrative direction should a deal have not been struck.
“There was no guarantee we would get the licence but that was always the idea,” he said.
“Within football there are a lot of different stories to tell and I think you’ve got a timeline with a character – and we saw that as a three-year event.”
One of the biggest shocks of the year was Cristiano Ronaldo moving from Real Madrid to Juventus.
The Portuguese played a key role in The Journey – especially in last year’s game – and with Hunter heading to Madrid this season, EA revealed the story had to change to reflect Ronaldo’s move.
“We didn’t go back to the drawing board but obviously it had implications because Hunter is going to Real Madrid and Ronaldo was a big part of that team,” said Prior.
“But that’s just the world of football and why we love it, to be honest.
“It’s ever changing, and so while it did present a few challenges, it was nothing were weren’t prepared for and it’s nothing we’ve not dealt with in the past, so yeah, it just comes with the territory.”
Elsewhere, FIFA 19 fans may not be able to play with three of the world’s biggest football nations.
Brazil, Croatia and Uruguay were missing from the team select menus in the FIFA 19 beta, which was first spotted by FIFA website Fifaultimateteam.it before being picked up by a number of YouTubers.
Although the Liga do Brazil is included, it appears EA may have struggled to acquire the licence for the countries.
This means you won’t be able to play with them on kick off or seasons. You can read more about that here.
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