In FIFA 21, new celebrations have been introduced. One of them already stands out because it has the potential to annoy many players quite a bit. And that’s exactly what EA supposedly wanted to avoid.
What kind of celebration is this? We are talking about the “Cry Baby,” which was presented on Tuesday evening along with other new celebrations. In this celebration, cover star Kylian Mbappé runs right into the camera and “cries” directly in your face. You can see this in the video at the timestamp of 0:26:
What kind of celebration is this? Kylian Mbappé pulled off this celebration in real life. Last season he celebrated a goal against Olympique Marseille this way – an inside joke with two friends, as he later explained on Twitter.
But the celebration spread around the football world, and back then, many said: The celebration would cause broken controllers in FIFA. It even appeared as part of a TOTW card of Mbappé.
And back then, players (for example via reddit) joked that the card was even more powerful because of the image. After all, it would be quite frustrating to concede a goal, possibly also having to endure the infamous “Shush” celebration, and then also see the crying card.
Now there’s the whole thing directly as a celebration. Given EA’s previous statements, that might have been unexpected.
EA changed celebrations to make FIFA nicer
That’s why the celebration is surprising: Goal celebrations are a hotly debated topic in FIFA. Many players are torn between “fun way to celebrate goals” and “annoying feature that takes time and provokes.” For example, in FIFA 19 there was a bigger call to skip celebrations altogether.
As recently as August, EA Sports announced in the Pitch Notes that it had taken player feedback to heart – also regarding toxicity. They had planned some changes, “that we can make to create a more pleasant experience for everyone who plays FIFA 21.”
This included, for example, the removal of the “Shush” celebration, where the scorer holds a finger to their lips to signal that one should be quiet. In FIFA 20, this celebration had become notorious over time and was considered particularly annoying. It is no longer included in FIFA 21 – but “Cry Baby” has the potential to become its direct successor.
In the discussion under the trailer (via YouTube), some users note that it might be possible that this celebration is not included in Ultimate Team in this form, but only offline. Or that there might be a way to skip it.
After all, EA has also adapted many things, such as the animation times after goals or the duration of celebrations. Therefore, it would be conceivable that EA provides a way to spare players from this celebration at least online.
However, this is currently only speculation. All known information about the FIFA 21 release has been summarized here for you.
