FIFA 22 is right around the corner, and while the biggest announcements have been revealed, smaller details are still trickling through. This week also saw some major news in the wider world of football sims though, and with the season underway, Messi getting his first minutes for PSG, and Ronaldo back at Old Trafford, FIFA 22 can’t get here soon enough.
Estadio da Luz Joins FIFA 22
The Estadio da Luz, also known as the Stadium of Light, is officially coming to FIFA 22 when it launches next month. Benfica’s stadium is one of the most iconic in world football, but was absent in FIFA 21 - now that Benfica and EA Sports have reached a licensing agreement again, the Portuguese stadium will return in this year’s instalment. The English Stadium of Light, home of Sunderland AFC, is also returning for FIFA 22, although I can’t imagine anyone cares.
Despite hosting a number of key finals, Portuguese stadiums have not featured in FIFA all that frequently, with Sporting’s Estadio Jose Alvalade instead being an official stadium of PES. Of course, PES is no longer a thing, but we did get some news on its replacement this week.
eFootball Gets Its First Trailer
Having been announced back in July, eFootball finally received its first trailer at Gamescom. Well, sort of. Rather than appear at any of the conferences, it instead dropped in the hours between the big showcases, seemingly only ‘at Gamescom’ by virtue of using the #gamescom hashtag. In the six minute trailer, Konami enlisted the help of Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta to highlight the tactical flow of the game and more precise controls over FIFA’s arcade pacing. However, it also made the fairly naive announcement that some kicks will be made available post-launch. You cannot announce a new football game and say “we’ll add kicking later,” you just can’t.
eFootball is doubling down on Pro Evo’s realism, and as a result looks to offer an interesting approach to the football sim genre that will hopefully benefit from its free-to-play price point. Winning over hardcore FIFA fans though? Don’t bank on it.
New FUT Kit
EA Sports gave us our first look at a new special edition FUT kit making its debut in FIFA 22 this week. The kit has been described as "definitely a football top," and "a thing, I guess." With tepid praise like that, everyone is sure to be desperate to get their hands on it come October. The kit is orange and black with a blue trim on the shorts and mesh stripes going down the body, designed after a mocap kit. How many times have you played FIFA and said "I wish this Brazil away kit looked more like a mocap outfit." 34 times, something like that? Well kiddo, you're in luck.
Playing As PSG Is Cheating
Oh, you didn’t hear? Yeah, this is a totally legit rule I 100 percent did not make up. After far too many players used PSG in FIFA 21, drastic action needed to be taken. Following the signings of Donarumma in goal in place of the already excellent Navas, the additions of Hakimi and Ramos at the back, Wijnaldum in midfield, and a little Argentinian striker called Leo something, news has come from on high that using PSG in FIFA 22 is cheating, sorry. Cue everyone playing as France...