With EA and FIFA’s long-standing exclusive licensing arrangement coming to an end soon, FIFA 23 will be in the last game in the series to bear its iconic name, with the franchise adopting the title EA Sports FC starting with next year’s release. That makes it a pretty big release for the series in terms of significant alone- but of course, when it comes to the actual games, we’re expecting iterative changes and some tweaks here and there. That, after all, is the nature of FIFA as a series, and of most annual sports franchises as a whole. Even so, there’s quite a few interesting changes to speak about in this year’s game, and ahead of its launch not long from now, here, we’re going to talk about a few key details that you should know about it.
HYPERMOTION 2
With FIFA 22, the big marketing buzzword that EA adopted as the catch-all term it was using for some of its most significant gameplay improvements was HyperMotion technology, so naturally, with FIFA 23, they’re bringing HyperMotion2. What that essentially means is that for this year’s game, EA Sports has captured twice the amount of data to make for even better and smoother animations, more dynamic and realistic interactions between players and with the ball, a new dribbling system, improved acceleration mechanics, and more, all of which in turn should make for more fluid on-pitch gameplay.
MORE GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS
As is the case in every new FIFA game, FIFA 23 will make a number of other changes and improvements to its moment-to-moment gameplay in addition to the aforementioned stuff as well. Set pieces, for instance, have been designed, with the point being to give players greater control over corners, free kicks, and penalties. A new power shots system has also been introduced, which is a risk-reward system for striking more powerful shots. You can also expect better physics, player awareness, improvements to skill moves, and more.
WORLD CUP
2022 is, of course, a World Cup year, which obviously means you can expect FIFA 23 to tie in with that. This is no ordinary World Cup year though, with the tournament being held in winter instead of summer as it usually is. To align with that, EA will release a free post-launch update for the game (for which no date has been confirmed yet) that will add the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Additionally, FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 will also be added. Speaking of which…
WOMEN’S CLUB TEAMS
International women’s teams have been featured in FIFA games since FIFA 16, but the series is finally taking a significant step forward on that front with this year’s game. FIFA 23 will be the first title in the series to include women’s club teams as well, with Barclays Women’s Super League and Division 1 Arkema joining the game.
REAL MANAGERS IN CAREER MODE
For a great many players, Career Mode is the meat and potatoes of the FIFA experience every year, but more often than not, the series has disappointed with its lack of meaningful improvements to the mode in recent years. Whether or not this is the year that that changes remains to be seen, but a few new Career Mode details have been confirmed for FIFA 23, some of which are quite interesting. For instance, unlike its predecessors, the game will allow you to play Career Mode as a real-life manager. So rather than creating a new manager, if you’re managing Manchester United, you can just play as Erik ten Hag.
PLAYABLE HIGHLIGHTS IN CAREER MODE
Another neat new feature being introduced in FIFA 23’s Career Mode is playable highlights. Traditionally, the mode has allowed players to deal with matches in one of two ways- either play through it, or sim it and gamble on getting a good simulated result. Playable highlights will be a middle ground of sorts. As the name suggests, this mode will let you play only the match’s highlights, which will be crucial moments that can determine the result. These moments, in turn, will be decided by the game based on the two teams and their players’ attributes.
MORE IMPROVEMENTS IN CAREER MODE
FIFA 23’s Career Mode will feature other minor improvements here and there as well. For instance, there’s the new Transfer Analyst feature, which will assess the financial and squad impact of each transfer, giving every transfer a rating based on a number of factors and also giving you pointers on how to improve your negotiations in the future. The mode will also feature AI improvements, which will see the opposition reacting more appropriately and tactically to how a match is going. There’s also new cinematic and dynamic cutscenes, and a completely new and revamped menu. Create Your Club also sees some improvements, allowing you to create a third kit and a goalkeeper kit, player names, attributes, and more.
PLAYER CAREER IMPROVEMENTS
Of course, Career Mode has two sides to it- there’s the less talked about but still decently popular Player Career Mode as well, and that, too, is seeing some interesting changes this year. For instance, performing certain actions will award you with personality points in a new and fluid personality system, with there being five personality types in total. Personality points in turn will determine which of your attributes grow, which means the mode’s progression system is seeing a big change. You can also expect plenty of off-pitch activities to partake in.
FUT MOMENTS
Other than Career Mode (probably much more so than it, in fact), Ultimate Team (or FUT) is the heart and soul of FIFA, and FIFA 23’s Ultimate Team mode will be making some key changes. One of these is FUT Moments, which will add a meatier single player element to the mode. Moments are, as their name suggests, bite-sized single player challenges that you can complete to earn Stars. That’s a new currency that’ll be used to purchase players, packs, and more. FUT Moments will feature adjustable difficulty, so the higher that’s set, the more Stars you’ll get.
REVAMPED CHEMISTRY SYSTEM IN FUT
FIFA 23’s FUT also featured a revamped chemistry system, which could potentially be a big change. Chemistry between the players in your squad will be based on a number of factors, including their nationalities, clubs, and leagues. No matter where a player is on the pitch, you’ll get a boost to your chemistry if they share any of those three things with others in your team. Higher chemistry will also mean bigger boosts to your players’ stats, but even when playing in a team with zero chemistry, every player will play with at least their base attributes.
PRO CLUBS PROGRESSION
While Career Mode and FUT are, of course, the two main modes in every FIFA games, there are other ancillary experiences to enjoy as well. Interestingly, in FIFA 23, EA is merging the progression of the Pro Clubs and Volta experiences. The 11v11 mode and the street football mode will now see shared progression and customization options. Seasonal Points will be the unified progression points you’ll earn across both modes that’ll be used to unlock new gear.
MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE IMPROVEMENTS
Once again, as is the case every year, FIFA 23 will make improvements in the presentation department as well, with EA Sports promising upgrades where the matchday experience is concerned. That’ll entail better pre-match build-ups, more cutscenes and celebrations, drone shots of stadiums, more detail added to the persistent wear and tear of the pitch during the course of a match, and more.
CROSS-PLAY
This is a pretty big one. For the first time in series history, FIFA 23 will support cross-platform multiplayer. Given how multiplayer heavy the series is and how split its player base is every year across multiple platforms, that’s a big step forward. However, at least at launch, cross-play will only be available in 1v1 modes, which doesn’t include Pro Clubs and Division Rivals. Whether or not EA changes that once the game is out remains to be seen.
PC VERSION
For the past couple of years, with the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have received upgraded and next-gen versions of new FIFA titles, PC players have had to make do with what EA is releasing for the last-gen consoles, which means the platform has been missing out on a number of key improvements and changes. FIFA 23, however, is finally changing that. Across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Stadia, the game will have complete parity. Naturally, cross-play between those versions won’t be possible with the PS4 and Xbox One versions.
PC REQUIREMENTS
If you are planning on playing FIFA 23 on PC, you’re going to need a decent rig to run it. On minimum settings, you’ll need either an Intel Core i5 6600k or an AMD Ryzen 5 1600, along with either a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or a Radeon RX 570, and 8 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, on recommended settings, you’ll need either an Intel Core i7 6700 or an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, along with either a GeForce GTX 1660 or a Radeon RX 5600 XT, and a 12 GB RAM. On either setting, you’ll need roughly 100 GB of free storage space.
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