FIFA 18: Features that definitely won't be in the game

What’s the story?

The September release of EA Sports’ annual FIFA series is already generating a lot of buzz. FIFA 18 will not only feature the traditional Career Mode but will also have the second part of ‘The Journey’ mode, which allows the gamers to build a career in the game as Alex Hunter.

However, there are some features that definitely won’t be in the new iteration of the game. One of the features is the ‘spectator’ function that allows fans to tune in and watch friends, pros or rivals play matches.

Some gamers had even created a thread on the FIFA Reddit in an attempt to convince EA to include it with one fan writing: “Imagine if you could watch your friends’ matches, random matches, or even FUT Champs matches from pros. Of course, you’d have to be able to hide your usernames/badges as an option because not everyone will want to be identified. You can even go as far as having the spectator see only 2 different kits.”

The world renowned Street mode will most likely miss out again in this year’s game even though FIFA Street gave the most enjoyable FIFA experience ever and was immensely popular with fans of the game.

In case you didn’t know...

FIFA Street gained huge popularity in the mid-2000s and it continued its success through to 2012. The final FIFA Street game was widely successful owing to its impressive graphics, classic FIFA Street player skills and exotic street locations all around the world.

The heart of the matter

EA has focused on building the eSports format with FIFA 18 given the fact that millions of players around the world now play FIFA Ultimate Team. However, some fans believe it requires a ‘spectator’ function which would be similar to established eSports titles – such as Call of Duty, Battlefield and League of Legends.

A spectator mode could be achievable in the future but would require a significant investment to ensure servers are up to scratch.

FIFA 18 will most likely not include FIFA Street but with the inclusion of the Frostbite engine by EA Sports, the game will focus more on in-game graphics and gameplay with player likeness also given special preference.

Adding a street mode or an indoor mode would lead to an increase in developing costs or even a possible delay in release. It can be seen that the priority of EA is on improving the game, rather than introducing more game modes.

What’s next?

EA has also revealed that FIFA 18 would be coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3 but would not feature The Journey mode and would be a ‘Gold’ version that will have updates in the rosters. FIFA 18 will release on 29^th September.

Author’s take

FIFA 18 is set to be an amazing game but the impressive skills and atmosphere of a street mode will be missed. Also, the idea of a spectator mode is exciting and hopefully future editions of FIFA will have that feature as well.