On July 13, the official release trailer for EA Sports FC 24 was released. The developer company also announced further details regarding the inclusion of female players in Ultimate Team. This sparked a heated debate in the community about realism in the new football simulation game.
The player pool in Ultimate Team will be expanded to include female players. This is not well received by all fans. One aspect in particular is causing significant controversy.
The EA Sports FC 24 trailer highlights some new features that await us in the new game.
What sparked the debate? Women and men will be placed on the field together. This marks the beginning of a new era for EA Sports.
Considering the mixing of women and men, changes arise for the following aspects in Ultimate Team:
- Packs and Transfer Market: Female players will be added to the packs. The players drawn can then also be sold or bought in a shared transfer market.
- SBCs, Promos, and Objectives: Female players can be used for Squad Building Challenges as mentioned in the team building. Female players will not only be unlockable as objectives but can also be used to complete other objectives during new promos.
You can read the FAQs again on ea.com.
There seems to be little disputable content at first glance. As with the cover for the Ultimate Edition, however, much has been debated online. In particular, one piece of information led to a heated discussion.
In the gameplay trailer, you can see what it looks like in the game:
Fans are discussing realism – No distinctions between ratings of female and male players
In the FAQ “How will the ratings work?” EA explains that all female players will be compared to male players and will receive their ratings from the kickoff mode in Ultimate Team. This means that a female player with an overall rating of 85 will play similarly to a male player with an overall rating of 85.
In the subreddit dedicated to the new game, this is causing discussions. One thread with over 1,000 comments is addressing the new features that are being hotly debated. (Status: July 14, 14:00)
Female players as strong as male players – is this still realistic? Opponents of the implementation of women in Ultimate Team completely dismiss the realism of the new football simulation game. “TheBizarreCommunity” summarizes his displeasure about the lack of realism in a comment: “This has nothing to do with real football anymore, it’s just Fortnite with balls.” (via reddit.com)
Or do women even perform better due to their body types? Reddit user “shakeer13” references his experiences from countless matches in Pro Clubs and suspects that the body model of women could become the new meta in EA Sports FC 24 because they are much more agile than men – a combination that has traditionally been strong in FIFA. (via reddit.com)
Are there opposing voices? Certainly: “Isit 77” sees the inclusion of female players in Ultimate Team as a huge opportunity to make women’s football and their idols more well-known. He adds that no 15-year-old would know who Eusebio or Socrates were if they weren’t icons in Ultimate Team. (via reddit.com)
Many agree: Realism is not a priority
Many users are trying to defuse the debate, arguing that EA Sports FC is a video game and that realism does not necessarily have to be the top priority. “LN-14” writes: It’s funny how people are upset about it as if Ultimate Team was ever realistic.
(via reddit.com)
User “Black_n_Neon” expresses a similar sentiment and comments: “I don’t want to hear any of you talk about realism while you’re playing Cech as a striker.” (via reddit.com) Here, the discussion refers to the shapeshifter card of Icon Petr Cech, who received an OP striker card during the event and was found in many teams.
A contentious topic. It remains to be seen whether the fears of some users will come true. At the latest by the launch of EA Sports FC on September 29, we will know more.
We are interested in your opinion on this matter: What do you think about the mixing of women and men in Ultimate Team? Is realism important to you in video games? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
