For the first time in its twenty year history, the FIFA series is set to include international women’s teams in upcoming installment FIFA 16. It might seem a bit odd that both indoor football and dive buttons made it into the game before women did, but EA seems to have recognised, belatedly, that it’s not just men who enjoy the beautiful game.
“It’s probably one of the most important additions we’ve ever made to the series – certainly during the last five years,” says senior producer Nick Channon. ”The women’s game has become very popular and the growth of it in the last few years has been huge. If we want to be the most authentic football game around, which we do, women need to be part of that.”
Women’s football is under the spotlight right now, of course, because of the ongoing World Cup (in which England actually made it out of the group stages, for once). It’s just a dozen of those competing national teams - Germany, USA, France, Sweden, England, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, China, Italy and Mexico - that will be playable in FIFA 16.
“We wanted the best players, which is why we went with international teams,” explains Channon. “Fundamentally, we’re going to let the game speak for itself.”
Channon doesn’t reveal whether women’s club football will make an appearance in future games, but given that EA Sports has put the work in to create realistic female models, with body scaling and animation work, I’d say it’s a distinct possibility.
FIFA 16 is set for release this September, on PC and consoles.
