FIFA is one of EA’s longest-running and most successful franchises. Each year a new annual title is announced, released, and earns the company vast, vast amounts of money in pack-based micro-transactions.

Advertisement

Each year the formula of FIFA 21 barely changes. Ultimate Team is the main focus of EA’s efforts as this is where they make the most money. The rest of the game is often left untouched, hardly changing in the past decade.

Sure, FIFA 20 featured a brand new Volta game mode, but it was notoriously buggy, devoid of content and not that fun. It felt like a marketing tool strapped onto FUT – a way to make FIFA 20 feel like a brand new game, and perfect for advertising.

So what’s expected for FIFA 21? Some rumors were circling that Career Mode will finally receive a content update. However, it’s not quite what it seems.

For those who’ve attempted career mode in FIFA 20 you’ll know it’s a pretty shambolic mess – there are career bugs, player bugs, and a formula that hasn’t changed since FIFA 16.

In the upcoming Champion and Ultimate editions of FIFA 21 – the pre-order super-versions of the game (wildly expensive) – you’ll get access to an up and coming talent. A youth player with the skills to transform your team early on.

This would suggest that EA is making an effort with career mode this year. It’s the first time that single-player career mode content has been included in a premium edition of FIFA.

However, this pre-order extra is thinly veiled in a very EA manner. It’s a premium piece of content, set back behind a paywall. There’s nothing more EA than putting single-player content behind a paywall.

In terms of Ultimate Team, it was reported at the end of last year that FIFA’s micro-transaction system makes up a huge margin of their annual profits. The idea of the packs going anywhere is hard to imagine.

But the problem with microtransactions has entered the public discourse. Both the US and the UK have discussed banning loot-box or gambling mechanics in video games. This would directly affect FIFA’s Ultimate Team.

For the time being, it’s likely FIFA 21 will be more of the same. There’s no reason to believe, especially from the short promotional videos and advertisements, that this game will be any different from the last.

Advertisement