As the latest FIFA winds down with its last few Ultimate Team hurrahs, talk has very much switched to the next in the hugely popular series. However, there isn't one - not a FIFA game, anyway.
After the football world's governing body reportedly asked for a mammoth amount of money to continue licensing its name, Electronic Arts decided that the game itself was more important than the branding. FIFA 24 is therefore called EA Sports FC 24 and FIFA is free to explore other options for soccer gaming in future.
So here's everything we know about the game, including confirmed details and features, a trailer or two, and its release date.
What is EA Sports FC?
As we've explained above, EA Sports FC is the new name Electronic Arts' long-standing football game franchise (soccer for our American chums).
The first game in the series will continue the numbering tradition establish by the FIFA titles over the years, so is called EA Sports FC 24. We also know a fair bit about EA's plans to ensure everybody knows about the switch.
For starters, EA has revealed that it has signed new partnerships with a number of leagues globally, including the Premier League in England, LaLiga in Spain, Germany's Bundesliga, CONMEBOL in South America, plus the NWSL and Barclay's Women's Super League.
It has also confirmed that the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany and Spain's Liga F women's leagues are licensed for the first time too.
They continue the publisher's commitment to women's football and even expand it to all new levels this year.
This all means that real team names and kits will be represented once more, in the vast number of cases.
Player names and licences will continue too, thanks to EA retaining a partnership with FIFPRO. That organisation covers the naming rights of more than 65,0000 professionals in the men's and women's games.
What is LaLiga EA Sports FC?
As part of its new partnership with the Spanish leagues, EA Sports FC will be the new title sponsor of all LaLiga competitions. So, not only will you see official logos and graphics in the game, you'll also see the EA Sports FC branding at all LaLiga matches and related tournaments.
The league itself will be called LaLiga EA Sports FC from next season (until the agreement runs out).
EA Sports FC 24 release date and platforms
EA Sports FC will be available from 29 September 2023 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Those who buy the Ultimate Edition will be able to play the game a week earlier - from 22 September 2023.
EA Sports FC 24 editions and price
There will be two EA Sports FC editions available - standard and Ultimate Edition.
The EA Sports FC 24 standard edition will cost £69.99 / €69,99 / $69.99, while the EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate edition will be £99.99 / €99,99 / $99.99.
Both are available to pre-order now, with the Ultimate Edition including a whole load of extras, such as 4,600 FC Points (the in-game currency) and, for a limited period, a Champions League or Women's Champions League Hero play for Ultimate Team.
EA Sports FC 24 cover star(s)
After a three-year run, Kylian Mbappe is no longer the cover star for the franchise.
The new cover star for the standard edition is Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland instead.
It makes sense. Haaland had an extraordinary first season with City in the Premier League last season, winning the league. He also won the FA Cup and European Champions League, plus scored a phenomenal 52 goals in 53 appearances for his club.
He also appears on the Ultimate Edition cover, but alongside a group of other main male and female stars from football's past and present. These include Chelsea Women's Sam Kerr, Vinicius Jr, Son Heung-min, Zinedine Zidane, Johan Cruyff, and Pelé.
They are computer rendered to represent the graphics in the game.
EA Sports FC 24 trailer
You can check out the first official trailer for EA Sports FC 24 below.
There's also a "gameplay" trailer, although there's not a huge amount of actual gameplay in it.
EA Sports PC 24 confirmed features
EA has already confirmed a few features that are coming to the game.
Women in Ultimate Team
You will be able to mix and match your teams in Ultimate Team this time, with women from all the licensed leagues being available in packs and use in game.
This will have a big impact on Chemistry, of course, as it adds a fair few new leagues, but you will be able to match women players with men who play for the same club. National affiliation will match too, like normal.
Hypermotion V
The latest version of the Hypermotion gameplay engine is even more advanced than ever and has been aided through intelligent motion capture of broadcast football matches. This allows for more accurate player movement and new body types.
PlayStyles
Each of the biggest players will get PlayStyles this year. This means they gain different abilities based on their real-life counterparts. There are three different types of PlayStyle, which allow players to pull off moves with varying effects – a player can have no PlayStyle, a PlayStyle, and a PlayStyle+. Each grade makes it easier to pull off a specific skill.
Opta has also been employed to assess real players' PlayStyles.
Evolutions
Players in Ultimate Team will be able to be upgraded throughout the season. So instead of chucking them into an SBC, you'll be able to level them up as you go through evolutions. All you have to do is add a player to the Evolutions section and complete objectives with him or her during gameplay.
Once evolved, you can add new ability points or PlayStyles to that player. You can also change the look of the card.
EA Sports Sapien
Using the latest version of the Frostbite Engine, the graphics have been greatly improved - including the player models through what EA calls Sapien technology. It allows for 10x the amount of detail in a player thanks to individual mapping of muscle tone.
GPU cloth
The kits have been greatly improved too - including the way the cloth moves and/or clings to a player.
Match day experience
The match day experience cutscenes and pitchside events have been enhanced as well.
