FIFA 23 is just around the corner, with a number of new features revealed by EA Sports over the past few weeks.
With flashy new additions made to this year's game, we want to step away and look at how the little details will make the most difference.
After a weekend of glitch-filled FIFA 22 play, we feel it's time to air our concerns.
Glitch City
Even the best games aren't immune from facing glitches and we by no means are suggesting that FIFA 23 should be free of any faults.
In general, EA does a solid job of fixing glitches and bugs, especially when they appear in modes like Ultimate Team.
However, after a weekend of playing career mode in FIFA 22, we're amazed to see just how many glitches still plague the game.
For instance, we played multiple games in which players were placed in completely wrong positions.
For instance:
- RWB Maitland-Niles was playing as a RW
- LB Ferland Mendy was playing as a CDM
- CB Gabriel was playing as a CDM
We even witnessed an instance where - playing against Everton - goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was playing as a right-back, with CDM Abdoulaye Doucoure playing in goal.
Naturally, this massively impacted gameplay and the overall experience, with this glitch being well known amongst the community since FIFA 22 was released.
Long-Term Frustrations
Long-term, unfixed glitches in FIFA aren't a new frustration, but they can certainly have a long-lasting impact on the game.
Throughout modes like Career Mode, multiple small glitches can be found that ruin the total immersion FIFA is supposed to provide.
Of course, we understand that not every glitch is easy to fix without creating more problems, but you can understand the grievances of Career Mode fans when outstanding problems are never fixed, and Ultimate Team appears to receive frequent patches.
The small details go a long way, and EA would do well to remember that as they head into their own game, EA Sports FC.
Future Lessons
With EA and FIFA now facing one another to be king of the football gaming sphere, there's lots of pressure on both companies to get things right.
Ultimately - as we've seen in some high-profile cases - a glitchy game can lead to horrendous publicity and massive player backlash.
Our main hope for FIFA 23 and EA Sports FC moving forward is that the game can learn from previous mistakes and fix the issues that plague the current edition.
The proof will be in the pudding, and if we start seeing goalkeepers playing outfield in FIFA 23 for AI teams, we may just lose the plot.