The weeks ahead of the release of a new FIFA title is always a season of high hopes and hyperoptimistic promises from EA Sports, the game's developers. Fans are eager to see something that's even remotely innovative after years of releases that have not really improved upon the sport sim's tried and true formula.
This is not to say that FIFA 21 was a bad game. Quite the contrary - it's a great football sim, and a big part of why players have seen so little changes in recent years is the fact that EA's competitors don't even come close to FIFA's level of quality. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement across the game's most popular modes.
8 Add More Modes For Volta
The Volta mode was first introduced to the FIFA franchise in FIFA 20 and became an instant hit with football fans all over the world. It is a spiritual successor to the cult classic FIFA Street games of the late 2000s, with smoother controls and improved graphics.
Thanks to the extremely entertaining gameplay and fast-paced matches, fans fell in love with EA's version of street football. Unfortunately, one common complaint was that there weren't enough online modes for gamers to really sink their teeth into Volta. The inclusion of a highly competitive mode that resembles the main game's Ultimate Team formula would surely keep people playing Volta for long, long hours.
7 Make FUT Less Invasive
While the competitive nature and addictive gameplay loop of improving one's team with better cards and competing for the highest honors in FUT Weekend League are definitely the highlights of the FIFA series, the Ultimate Team mode can get a little exhausting with time.
One of the culprits behind that is the invasiveness of FUT. Ads for the in-game events and pack offers can be seen in FIFA's main menus, and sometimes, a pop-up window will directly encourage players to try out Ultimate Team. The gacha mechanics implemented in the pack opening system don't help, either. Easing off of pressuring players to play FUT will surely benefit the game as a whole, as well as the Ultimate Team mode itself.
6 Add New Animations
EA Sports has already announced that they will be implementing new technology to the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of FIFA 22, with a brand new "Hypermotion Technology" being used to reimagine the movements of players on the pitch. Fans hope that this also means the abandonment of the buggy, unpredictable Frostbite engine used in the previous titles.
Hopefully, the Hypermotion Technology will improve player animations, especially in tight-knit situations, where a mistake or bug could mean the difference between a goal and no goal. Fixing animations will make the gameplay feel more responsive without many tweaks, as bugs related to animations were the main culprit behind gameplay fluidity issues in the latest iteration of the franchise.
5 Remove Toxic Mechanics From FUT
Nearly every FIFA player plays Ultimate Team, and nearly every single one of them hates it for all of the toxicity surrounding the game mode. EA Sports should be quicker to ban users who insult, threaten, or discriminate against other players mid-match, as well as implement better punishment mechanics for rage-quitting and abandoning matches, as some users (especially on PC), have figured out ways to get around the existing ones.
Of course, a lot of FUT's toxicity comes from FIFA itself, as the pack-opening mechanics and the encouragement of buying packs have ramped up in recent years. This became a serious issue for some players since they feel like microtransactions and the gacha-like pack system have been prioritized over a high-quality user experience.
4 Redo The Commentary From Scratch
In FIFA 20, Martin Tyler and Alan Smith have been replaced by Derek Rae and Lee Dixon as the default commentators, but the in-game commentary continued to suffer from the usual problems: awfully repetitive phrases, not enough range to accurately cover everything that happens on the field, and dull, insufferable periods of silence when playing as some of the lesser-known teams.
EA Sports has already announced the introduction of Alex Scott (the first female commentator in FIFA history) and Scott Robson as new additions to the FIFA 22 commentary team. Hopefully, it will be followed by the announcement of an expansion of recorded commentator lines and phrases to make it less immersion-breaking than it was in FIFA 21.Â
3 Bring Back Stadium And Staff Options In Career Mode
Many younger FIFA players may not be aware of this, but right up until FIFA 09, the career mode was completely different from what it looks like today. There were plenty of additional options for the aspiring managers to take control of, such as sponsorship deals, ticket pricing, and stadium and staff upgrades. The latter played a very important part in the overall development of the team.
Upgrading one's stadium and staff would make players' skills develop faster, allow the club to sell more tickets, and attract much better talent to the team. These upgrades add so much more depth to the career mode without being too difficult to implement. Due to their removal and the overall lack of focus on the game's offline modes, many players have turned their backs on FIFA altogether. Bringing some of these old mechanics back would surely motivate these gamers to give the franchise another chance.
2 Fix The FUT Marketplace
Trading players on the massive Ultimate Team marketplace has comprised the bulk of player interactions in FIFA ever since the Ultimate Team mode was introduced to the game. For those who don't spend money on packs, buying and selling players on the market with FUT Coins is the only way to assemble a star-studded team.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the FUT marketplace became riddled with bugs, delays, and failed transactions. As FUT's popularity grew, the trading system failed to keep up with the sheer amount of coins and cards that get exchanged every single minute. Tweaking that system to adapt it to the massive scale of the market is a surefire way to improve the user experience of all FUT enthusiasts.
1 Bring Back Alex Hunter
The introduction of a story mode in FIFA 17 took many players by surprise. After all, character development, cutscenes, and family drama aren't exactly associated with sports games. Taking control of Alex Hunter and his footballing career turned out to be a very fun and rewarding experience, though, and fans were excited to continue that journey in future releases.
Unfortunately, FIFA 19 was the last time players got the chance to step into the fictional football star's shoes. It didn't have to end there, though. There were plenty of potential storylines to follow, and most players were in agreement about the story mode being a great getaway from the high intensity of other FIFA modes.