FIFA 17 will be released in North America on September 27 and on September 29 worldwide for the Xbox 360, Xbox 1, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC, per EA Sports.
Apparent cover art was also released on Monday. Real Madrid’s Javier Hernandez, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus have been tabbed as ambassadors for this year’s game.
There will be three different pre-order options, per EA Sports. Here are the details, but the prices of each edition were not released.
Standard Edition
Full game
Up to 5 FUT Draft Tokens (1 per week over 5 weeks – worth up to ￡10+)
8-match FUT loan item of Hazard, Martial, Reus, or Rodriguez
Custom FUT kits created by designers or FIFA soundtrack artists
Deluxe Edition
Full game
Up to 20 FIFA Ultimate Team Jumbo Premium Gold Packs (1 per week over 20 weeks – worth up to ￡40+)
3-match FUT Team of the Week loan player (up to 1 player per week over 20 weeks)
8-match FUT loan item of Hazard, Martial, Reus, or Rodriguez
Custom FUT kits created by designers or FIFA soundtrack artists
Super Deluxe Edition
Full game
Up to 40 FIFA Ultimate Team Jumbo Premium Gold Packs (2 per week over 20 weeks – worth up to ￡79.99)
3-match FUT Team of the Week loan player (up to 2 players per week over 20 weeks)
8-match FUT loan item of Hazard, Martial, Reus, or Rodriguez
Custom FUT kits created by designers or FIFA soundtrack artists
If you’re after the Super Deluxe Edition, you can pre-order it through the in-game menu in FIFA 16 to save 10% on the ticket price.
Here’s a look at the reveal trailer:
Some may be wondering, what does the change in engine mean for the FIFA series, and why would EA Sports choose to make such a drastic alteration to a proven formula?
In a word: competition. For the first time in a long while, Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series has been very competitive with FIFA over the past two years when it comes to Metacritic scores.
EA Sports has been working to incorporate the Living Worlds concept in all of its sports games. Frostbite could help take that to the next level. In Battlefield, the engine has provided enhanced responsiveness and interaction during large-scale online battles, across huge maps, where almost every object can be interacted with to some degree.
If you consider a football game is simply an 11-on-11 battle in a much smaller and contained area, one could expect even better results.
Environmentally, the crowds and the sidelines figure to see the most noticeable enhancements. Expect to see both clubs’ sidelines far more active and lifelike. The same can be said for the crowds that are such a big part of the world football experience.
Weather effects have been such a major focus of Frostbite’s power, so it will be awesome to see how rain, snow flurries and even wind are depicted in FIFA 17. As it stands, this year’s version will be an important one for the future of the franchise.
How the engine is received will almost certainly dictate how the game is critiqued and enjoyed.
