How EA will decide player ratings for FIFA 18

What’s the story?

It’s definitely not a cake-walk to allot the correct ratings to a whole pool of players for FIFA 18. The current version of FIFA, FIFA 17, has around 700 clubs with more than 18000 players and the next instalment will for sure have as many players if not more.

Thus, in order to ensure that ratings are precise for each of them, EA will rely on a host of verticals, including primary guesswork, data collection and to top it off, statistical analysis. This entire process will take place under the careful guidance of Michael Mueller-Moehring, who is a producer with the company.

In case you didn’t know...

FIFA 18 will be powered by the same engine as FIFA 17, but improvements for the gamers will come forth in the form of greater detail in terms of player movement and a sharper animation including the crowd details.

The heart of the matter

Michael Mueller-Moehring will head a team of 9000 data reviewers as a part of the setup for player ratings which will comprise scouts, coaches and season ticket-holders who will be expected to watch the maximum number of matches possible.

Post this, they will have to provide a subjective evaluation of each of the players on a secure site. This feedback would then be collated into 300 different data fields alongside 35 specific attribute categories in order to determine the overall rating.

The reasoning behind such an evaluation is the fact that one cannot rely on mere stats to infer a player’s rating, it’s more important to analyse their mental make-up alongside other factors like in which team, league and under what type of manager they are playing.

“We have many leagues in the game; no stats provider could offer us data for all these leagues, teams and players.This is also the reason why we use this online database because it’s not possible to buy this data some way — it just doesn’t exist,” Mueller-Moehring was quoted as saying to ESPN.

He further went on to add, “The stats are, in most cases, not taking into account very specific circumstances. When you play for Bayern Munich or if you play for Manchester City or if you play for Pep Guardiola, if your system is based on possession, you will have more successful passes than other players, but this doesn’t necessarily make you a better passer. There is data, but the data never gives you the specific situations.”

What’s next?

Fans of the game will have to wait until September this year when FIFA 18 will officially be launched in order to review the player ratings and the quality of the upgrade. It is being speculated that Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo will remain the game’s best player and also feature as the cover star.

Author’s Take

It’s heartening to see the efforts that go into building this popular game. Such steps ensure that the user’s overall experience is enhanced and the developers slowly expand their already huge fan base.