FIFA Online

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EA SPORTS FIFA Online Announced!
29 Jan 2010

A new, free, downloadable football game for PC is unveiled.

Electronic Arts announced today development of a free-to-play*, downloadable game called EA SPORTS FIFA Online. The game will make its most popular and highest rated** videogame franchise available to football fans with a broadband Internet connection and an average-spec laptop computer or desk-top PC.

The free-to-play EA SPORTS FIFA videogame will call on football fans and gamers to help shape features during closed beta testing prior to its English-language European open beta release in June 2010.

"Listening to and engaging football fans has been one of the driving forces behind the success of our FIFA franchise and now we are inviting European football fans - in mass numbers and earlier than we ever have before - to help us develop a new football game," said Executive Producer Kaz Makita.

"Fans will determine the features that matter most, and at the end of this process our goal is to deliver a game for fans looking for a quick football fix at home or at work.

"There are a large number of football fans who do not want a console gaming experience due to time and other priorities in their personal lives, but they still want to be able to play a top-quality football videogame. FIFA Online will be designed specifically for them."

Beginning 3 February, football fans across Europe are invited to register to participate in the closed beta development and testing of FIFA Online by visiting http://fifa-online.easports.com.

More than 20,000 fans will be involved in the first phase of closed beta testing and then, during open beta in June, hundreds of thousands of fans will test the game, providing feedback directly to the game's developers through exclusive discussion forums.

EA SPORTS FIFA Online will be released around the world in stages. The English language version will be available to all football fans in June 2010. Over the next 12 to 24 months, FIFA Online will launch in other languages across Europe and then in North America. Non-English speaking football fans will also be able to participate in the development process of these games.

EA SPORTS FIFA Online will offer an authentic football experience with 30 licensed leagues, 500 clubs and more than 15,000 players. During the first closed beta stage, the game will feature a 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa tournament mode and a control system that uses the mouse only. At the second stage of closed beta, the game will feature a League Mode that enables fans to manage and compete as their favourite football club, and the ability to play online matches. FIFA Online will enable football fans and gamers to build their favourite club into their dream team by developing or acquiring players, upgrading skills, and getting unique apparel by earning in-game currency to acquire items or through micro-transactions. Additional content will be designed for the game based on feedback by fans.

Register to play now at http://fifa-online.easports.com.
http://www.easportsfootball.co.uk/news/item/file/FIFA-Online-Announced

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FIFA Online First Impressions

EA Sports is bringing the online version of FIFA to the West, and we were on hand to check it out.

After launching to incredible success in the East as a free-to-play online game, FIFA Online will now be coming to the US and Europe in the second quarter of 2010. EA Sports president Peter Moore was on hand to announce the news at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium, and we were able to talk to line producer Adrian Blunt about what to expect from the game.

FIFA Online is going to be accessible to the widest group of people possible, according to Moore. While FIFA 10 may have been EA Sports' biggest-ever launch, the wider football market is still a massive target for the FIFA franchise. As Moore explains, "There are 2 billion football fans worldwide, and we sell 10 million (FIFA games) on a good day." Clearly, the other 1.99 billion might be interested in playing a FIFA game, but whether it be the cost of entry, a lack of skill, or any number of other reasons, they're just not playing.

The answer for EA Sports has been to reduce nearly all barriers to entry for FIFA Online. The game can be played on very low-end computers, including an average work laptop. Likewise, the control scheme is based entirely around a mouse, as Blunt demonstrates by showing a picture of a man with one hand on the mouse and another on his sandwich. The concept is "100 percent mouse play," with a cursor control system not too dissimilar to FIFA on the Wii, with two mouse buttons for passing, shooting, crossing, and tackling. Thankfully, there will also be keyboard and gamepad support for those who want to use it.

Despite being aimed at a broad market, FIFA Online boasts impressive technical specifications--it's based on FIFA 10 PC code and uses Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 assets. Because it's an online game, friends are also integral to the FIFA Online experience. You have a friends list down the right side of the screen, which will always inform you when contacts are available to play. There will also be a competitive element, with in-game currency dished out at the end of matches allowing you to buy things such as player recovery or increased stamina.

Of course, the issue of microtransactions is always important when talking about a free-to-play game, and while FIFA Online will accept payments, those spending real money shouldn't have a massive advantage. "I don't have to invest any money into FIFA Online," says Blunt, emhasising that it's possible to always play for free. What he describes is the concept of "accelerators," which will allow those who do spend money to progress faster through the game. While the developer isn't going into huge detail yet, there will be a level system in the game, and players will be rewarded the more they play. Paying money will allow you to avoid some of the grind to get to these higher levels. Thankfully, everyone will have access to the same features whether they're paying or not.

EA Sports is about to go into a series of closed beta tests for FIFA Online starting 3 February, and it is currently recruiting participants through the official Web site. The company plans to have 20,000 people involved in the first wave of tests, with more following through the spring. Hopefully, by June the company should be ready to unleash the open beta, with the commercial release coming in August. It will initially launch with one game mode--World Cup--but this will eventually be expanded to include both league and versus modes.

There's clearly a lot of potential for FIFA Online, and while we don't expect to give up on the standard FIFA releases just yet, we're already looking forward to checking out the beta. We weren't allowed to play the game at this stage, so we're eager to try out the control scheme. Luckily, we don't have too long to wait before being able to do just that, so check back for more information soon.

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Interview with Adrian Blunt, Producer (video)
http://www.easportsfootball.co.uk/media/play/feature-video/FIFA_Online_IV