14 DAY TRIAL // EA Sports has dismissed the September 24 launch date that several retailers listed for its FIFA 11 football simulation. The Electronic Arts division has offered a statement revealing that the date is “pure speculation” adding that the intention is to actually announce the real release date in the coming weeks. The Gamescom convention is fast approaching and EA Sports might be preparing to use that venue to make the announcement, which will please quite a few fans of the beautiful game.
EA Sports is set to make some changes to its launch schedule this year, mainly because it aims to introduce a new EA Sports MMA franchise, which will compete with UFC Undisputed for the mixed martial arts market, and it needs to give the new comer as good a launch slot as possible to assure good sales. The NBA series, now known as Elite after ten years it bore the Live name tag, is set to come at the beginning of October and the MMA title will arrive later on that month, which means FIFA 11, which has good brand recognition and a loyal following among gamers, could be pushed forward to late September.
Electronic Arts has repeatedly claimed that it plans to create a launch schedule offering more space for big titles and spreading video games throughout the year. Despite the statements, EA Sports is launching all its big video games starting with August, when Madden NFL comes out, which could lead to saturation for some sports fans. This means games that, like FIFA, come out early have the best change to make a big impact.
FIFA 11 is promising to shake the series to its foundations by introducing a new Personality+ plus system, meaning those on the pitch will play as close as possible to their real-life counterparts, forcing players to take into account their stats but also their personality quirks.