One of the biggest additions to this year’s FIFA is ‘Survival Mode’.
The aim of the game is simple – every time your team scores a goal, you lose a player. The first to lose five players wins.
It’s certainly a neat idea – and one that, at face value, seems somewhat inspired by the booming battle royale genre.
But according to creative director Matt Prior, that’s not the case.
In fact, Survival Mode was something FIFA developer EA had been working on long before the likes of Fortnite and PUBG started making waves.
“We’ve got a laundry list of features we want to do so it’s not something that was born this year,” he said.
“FIFA Street 2012 had a similar mode. We felt it was the right time now because we wanted to open up FIFA to a more casual audience.”
He continued: “We see a lot of people play Kick Off – particularly the casual guys – and previously it was a one-off game that kind of disappeared into the ether.
“So, we wanted to do multiple things with Kick Off – obviously there’s now stats tracking which makes every game meaningful in the sense that it always tracks your stats.
“Plus, we now give gamers the ability to change rules – we just wanted to inject a little bit more fun into things.
“Obviously, authenticity is and always will be a key pillar for us but at the same time it’s important to remember that it’s a game and it’s all about having fun.
“This is especially true for those casuals who may not live and breathe football. It’s an opportunity for them to play FIFA and have a different experience.
“Likewise, for the core – if you’ve playing FIFA for 10 years, this is something fresh and new. Interestingly, it’s actually the core guys who are coming up to us saying, ‘this is awesome’.
Elsewhere, EA Sports also revealed why they decided to call time on Alex Hunter’s Journey on FIFA.
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.” You can read the full story here
SIGN UP – WIN £5k BY PLAYING DREAM TEAM WEEKENDER THIS WEEKEND
Have you signed up to play Dream Team Weekender?
- Pick 7 players – no limit to the number of players you can choose from one club
- No transfer budget – any player is available to pick
- Only Saturday and Sunday fixtures
- Sign up to play Dream Team Weekender now