EA Confirms FIFA 23 Won't Include Any Russian Clubs or the National Team
It will come as a surprise to no one that EA has decided not to include any Russian clubs or content in FIFA 23.
As Eurogamer reports(Opens in a new window), no Russian clubs or the Russian national team will make it into the game. In an official statement EA said:
"EA Sports stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and like so many voices across the world of football, calls for peace and an end to the invasion of Ukraine. In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports will not include the Russian national team or Russian clubs in FIFA 23."
EA had already taken action following Russia's invasion of Ukraine by stopping sales of its games, supporting content, and virtual currency in Russia and Belarus. Russian teams were also removed from FIFA 22, and Russia items became unavailable in Ultimate Team.
FIFA 23 is a key release for EA for a number of reasons. It counts as the last game in the series under the partnership of EA Sports and FIFA as they couldn't agree new licensing fees for using the FIFA name going forward. EA intends to continue producing football/soccer games, but under the new name of EA Sports FC.
In terms of content for this last FIFA game, EA is including women's club teams(Opens in a new window) and the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 as a post-launch update. The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will also be offered as free additional content. EA's Hypermotion2 technology promises "twice as much real match data capture" resulting in over 6,000 true-to-life football animations, and cross-play, which allows you to play against friends on different hardware platforms.
FIFA 23 will be released on Sept. 30 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Windows (Steam, Epic Game
Read more on pcmag.com
