Free-to-play games are the modern way with the likes of Fortnite and Warzone leading the way, and now EA will look to get in on the at with their FIFA series.
In-game purchases are how the money is made, and now it looks like EA will look to cash in on the trend.
FIFA 22
The release date for EA's upcoming title has finally been revealed!
After months of speculation, EA has officially announced that FIFA 22 will be released on Friday, 1 October 2021.
So far, we know that FIFA 22 is NOT free-to-play and pre orders are now available.
It is yet to be confirmed, but so far it does not look like cross-platform play will be available just yet either.
What is free-to-play?
It's like it says on the tin, these games are free to download and play.
Konami has recently revealed that eFootball (formerly known as PES) will be free to play, with optional DLC purchases available for offline game modes.
It is now rumoured that EA will follow suit and make the FIFA series free-to-play which could really shake things up.
This means game modes like Career Mode could become a purchasable add-on and not be included in the free download.
FIFA 23 rumours
It looks as though FIFA 22 could be the last in the series that does not include cross-platform play, and there could be another major change too!
Cross-platform play is highly sought after with the next-gen consoles still hard to come by, so this is big news from FIFA insider @DonkTrading on Twitter.
With the far greater capabilities of the next-gen consoles, it may be difficult to optimise cross-platform play across all consoles.
However, the free-to-play news could see a huge difference in the way the game is improved with regular updates throughout the year rather than a brand-new game.
Good move?
We certainly think so. A free-to-play model allows for major and consistent updates throughout the year which (we hope) will improve all aspects of FIFA.
We would expect Ultimate Team to be the free-to-play staple as that is the moneymaker, with Career Mode being available for additional purchase.
Making the game free-to-play would likely encourage more players to enjoy the game, increasing FIFA's fanbase and providing more opportunities to sell those lucrative FIFA points.
Career Mode fans will likely buy the add-on anyway, so this looks like it would be a smart move by EA.