14 DAY TRIAL // Our Incoming 2015 series focuses on the most important game launches of the next 12 months and next up we talk about FIFA 16.
What we know
FIFA is battling with Madden NFL for the title of most important sports franchise in the world, and last year the football sim did not deliver all the innovation that the fan community was expecting, which means that bigger changes might be coming this year.
EA Sports has a tradition of not talking about the new title before the middle of June and leaks tend to be well controlled, which means that at the moment we do not know much about the new installment.
Given the solid sales numbers of the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4, gamers can expect to see an increase in the quality of the graphics, probably with a focus on the way physics and animations interact to offer a more realistic experience.
Given its popularity, Ultimate Team will probably receive the biggest update, but the match engine will probably be instantly familiar to all fans.
EA Sports has also suggested that it might overhaul the Career Mode in some interesting ways, mostly in order to offer something interesting to experience to those who focus on long-term single-player campaigns, but it’s unclear whether 2016 will be the year when they are implemented.
Expect launch to take place at some point after the middle of September and last-gen consoles will struggle to run this version of the series well.
Why it matters
FIFA 16 needs to walk a very fine line between the need to introduce innovation that can challenge the player base and the need to impress them, while also making sure that it remains familiar to those who have been playing for years.
EA Sports knows how to deal with such circumstances, but this year the situation is made more complicated by the fact that Pro Evolution Soccer is showing signs that it can become a strong competitor again, with its attempts to focus on the tactical side of football rather than its spectacle.
FIFA 16 will also be a test for the strength of the Ultimate Team mode, which has gained a lot of momentum in previous years but might have left no space to evolve, especially if the developers want to increase the revenue derived from it.