EA Sports has a simple message to those upset about the idea of virtual men and women playing on the same field in EA Sports FC 24: Don’t play Ultimate Team.
During its feature reveal last week, it was announced that women’s players will be available in Ultimate Team for the first time ever. Of course with the inclusion of women in the mode, it brought out people who felt women weren’t on the same level as the men in soccer, even on a virtual platform.
In an interview with IGN, EA says that the feedback is something that was considered. However, it’s more about growing the game as a whole as opposed to giving in to those that seem to be stuck in a toxic way of thinking.
“It’s something we really thought deeply about,” John Shepherd, executive producer and VP at EA, said in an interview with IGN. “We feel we can play a really important role in the growth of that sport in introducing it to all of our fans. We just have this conviction that we believe we want to unite the world around football.
“Ultimate Team is a great place for that. It is a mode where you can build your fantasy team with different nationalities, different leagues, different clubs. And so it felt like a great spot to be able to do that.”
Shepherd says that the company’s goal isn’t about the “150 million fans” they have now, but “a billion fans”. It’s about making the game something more and more people want to play, and inclusion is part of that.
“We have a vision of connecting not just the 150 million fans we have now, but a billion fans,” he said. “We want this game and this brand, this club, this ecosystem, to welcome everybody. In terms of our decision around how we’re integrating women’s football into Ultimate Team, we feel really strongly about that.”
For those that are still upset about it, the company says they can go to Kick Off mode to play.
“There are other modes of play, such as Kick Off, where it’s more about that club playing together against another club,” Shepherd says. “But Ultimate Team to us is a mode where you can have a mix of players and you can build the best team.”
As senior producer Sam Rivera said, “It’s not just about being tall and being strong. The core of the message here is: if everything is equal they play the same way.”
EA Sports FC 24 launches September 29 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Those on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 will be able to play all EA Sports FC 24 modes, including Ultimate Team, together via crossplay.
