USWNT to feature in FIFA 16

Finally some positive news in the same sentence as the word ‘FIFA’. For in the current fallout from the corruption scandal and sensational arrests made in Switzerland recently over the organisations many wrongdoings, things haven’t been good. That positive news is that in the next installment of the EA Sports produced, FIFA video game series, for the first time in the series, Women’s soccer is to be a playable option upon the games release in September.

To be more specific, there are a total of 12 international teams that can be used. These are:

Australia, Brazil, England, United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and China.

The news comes just over a week before the start of the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada, featuring a record number of 24 competing teams. EA Sports’ FIFA franchise is the best-selling sports video game in the world and one of the best-selling video game series in the world. It has enjoyed growing success in North America, with traditional sports giant, the EA Sports Madden NFL series under pressure from FIFA’s surge in popularity.

MLS used FIFA 15 to launch the league’s rebrand, which helped the transition greatly as well as expand the popularity of MLS across the globe. The MLS All-Stars have previously been a playable team in the series too, another unique feature that the league can lay claim to. No other league can boast something like that.

Not all comments were positive, although British YouTuber and FIFA expert KSI summed it up well:

"The FIFA community is so male populated lol, adding women FIFA will be so beneficial for all of us. People don't be so narrow minded"

This of course means a second United States national team is on the game, and will open up the FIFA series to a wider audience. It will also promote the 2015 Women’s World Cup which takes in place this summer in Canada. Some MLS fans are looking forward to the prospect of making Dom Dwyer’s Sporting Kansas side line-up against his wife Sydney Leroux and her US women’s national team in the battle of who is the best out of the pair. What a game that would be.

Current internationals Abbey Wambach, Alex Morgan and a number of others were involved in the games development, providing motion capture for use in the game. A 360 degrees motion capture rig was set up to track movements and ensure it was a realistic as possible.

Wambach commented on the amount of technology involved:

“I honestly can’t believe all of the science and technology behind the game itself, let alone getting us into the motion capture suits and eventually into the game”

David Rutter, vice president and general manager of EA Sports said:

“Bringing some of the best women’s players and teams in the world to our franchise is a massive event for EA Sports,”

The game will not allow for Men’s vs Women’s games – to bring it in line with current regulations. So sorry to all those who wanted to pit USWNT vs USMNT – or Dom Dwyer vs Sydney Leroux. But the Women’s World Cup can be recreated, a bonus if the USWNT miss out on the trophy. Hopefully not!

For now at least, a little bit of history has been made and instead of boring control tweaks or barely noticeable graphic changes – something bigger has been introduced.

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