FIFA 20: EA promises career mode will "keep growing, we're not stopping here"

We are racing toward the 24 September release of EA Sports’ flagship title FIFA 20, however it is not the only football game coming this year. Konami’s PES 2020 will have a two-week head start as it drops on 10 September.

The arms race between the two titles has seen exclusive rights for Juventus move over to PES, while new features like Volta Football have been introduced to FIFA to try and keep their hold of the footballing crown.

Following on from the ‘Pitch Notes’ release, EA Sports’ Senior Game Designer Alex Constantinescu outlines major improvements being made to Career mode in FIFA 20.

Enhancements

In the past few years, just like a professional football team with no investment, Career mode has felt stale. Minor interactive gameplay improvements have failed to limit the stagnation, which has led to vocal criticism from the gaming community. Many players felt that meaningful updates were lacking, and that EA game designers were failing to improve on previous editions.

However with FIFA 20, EA is taking the first step in righting the wrongs. Internal tool sets have now been completed for the press conference feature, freeing up valuable resources so that future editions can see more improvements. It makes sense that many of the changes to FIFA 20’s Career mode have been designed to make the game more reactive.

This is one of many moves that reflects EA’s decision to deliver more aspects of an RPG to the FIFA universe.

“It’s a mode that’s going to keep on growing, we’re not stopping here.” Alex Constantinescu, Senior Game Designer.

Authenticity is key

The number of built-in storylines that you can experience have been greatly increased, with your answers having a demonstrable impact on the morale and form of specific players. This feature has been successfully implemented into other video games in recent years, and has resulted in better engagement from players.

Adding to the authenticity of the game, young players that get extended game time and excel can now grow more quickly, and have their ‘potential cap’ raised following strong performances. This improvement will be especially effective for players with solid performances in lower leagues, who don’t already have a high potential upside.

EA have achieved this by introducing a scoring system that will determine how a player’s potential will be bumped in the upcoming season. A player’s growth will now appear more linear than sporadic, as upgrades will be gradually integrated, rather than implemented at the start of a season.

The different weighting between physical, mental, and skill attributes also enables players to develop more uniquely. These enhancements will make the game seem more lifelike, and flow seamlessly.

“In future years, we’ll get to do a lot more”

EA Sports is keen to improve on their dialogue with the FIFA community by putting out more blogs and updates. Showing the fans what they are working towards should solve the problems that they have faced in previous years, where a lack of ‘Pitch Notes’ and update announcements has made players feel entirely ignored. This was a big lesson for EA in learning how to sell their own work.

"This was a very big lesson for us, to learn how to sell our own work better."

There is still a lot of work left to do, but FIFA 20’s improved career mode looks like a statement of intent.

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