EA Sports and FIFA’s partnership will come to an end in the summer of 2023 after a 27-year-long partnership.
During their partnership, EA Sports and FIFA created over 30 different versions of the game but the two brands will part ways next year due to a contract negotiation breakdown. They have released their final game together, FIFA 23.
With the final version of the iconic game being released, it might be fair to expect both companies to put a lot of effort to leave football fans with something to remember.
They didn’t.
If one is smart you won’t buy the new FIFA game until the sale prices kick in. It would be outlandish to pay around three figures. The games every year are the same, the condition of the game is poor and the price is ridiculous.
Since FIFA 16, where squad-building challenges and FUT champs were introduced, there hasn’t been any significant change.
FIFA 23 is no different.
The worst part about FIFA 23 is the price, without question the price. How EA Sports can ask for a minimum of $79.99 and up to $119.99 (depending on the package) for a game that is the same as the last version is ludicrous.
If EA Sports made improvements to the game each year such as gameplay, servers and even added new features to the menu, then EA Sports could justify the price tag.
FIFA 23 is a carbon copy of the previous game FIFA 22. The minor tweak this year was that they changed the chemistry system in the ultimate team game mode. It was long overdue as the FIFA community has been complaining about it for years.
Other than the new chemistry system and Ted Lasso’s team AFC Richmond being added to the game for some reason, there is no other change. It’s like the price of Costco’s hot dogs, it will always stay the same.
What makes matters worse is the poor conditions of the game. The number of complaints made about the servers goes back over ten years, yet there has been no significant improvement.
What bothers many players is other popular games have advanced new servers with no connection problems, but FIFA still has servers from 2010.
With the servers being so out of date, it allows the increase of hackers. No matter what game you play there will always be hackers, but when the servers of the game are so dreadful it almost invites the hackers to come ruin the fun.
The ‘pay to win’ aspect makes the game hard to play. Being able to grab ‘daddy’s wallet’ and get a super team on the first day of the game kills the excitement for other players.
‘Pay to win’ doesn’t leave a level playing field for everyone, you have one player who’s playing day and night for weeks, grinding to get a semi-decent team to enjoy the game. Then you have another who will spend his money to get to the top, which takes away the fairness.
Imagine you’re in a college program studying day in and day out, pulling ‘all-nighters’ and sacrificing time with friends and family to graduate. Just for someone else to pay a tutor to do everything for them.
The reality is if you buy the game, fans would realize that it’s the majority of the same game you’ve been playing for years. One would be better off waiting until Christmas time and getting the game for around half price, you won’t miss much.