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With the turn of the seasons from summer to fall, comes the annual tradition of another FIFA video game being released. One way of looking at this year’s release is, “Just another FIFA,” but it can’t be overlooked that this will be EA Sports’ final release of the game using the FIFA moniker. The publisher announced earlier this year they were not renewing the licensing rights with soccer’s governing body to use the name, ending a 30-year relationship. Beginning with their 2023 release, the series will be rechristened as EA Sports FC.
FIFA 23 still has women’s soccer representation in the form of some national teams, but finally has added women’s club teams to the game. England’s Women’s Super League and France’s Division 1 Féminine are available to play right out of the gate in Kick Off, Online Seasons, Co-Op Seasons, Online Friendlies, and Tournament modes. Why no Career Mode you ask? Perhaps with only two leagues available at launch, the mileage just isn’t there for Career Mode aficionados in terms of starting a managerial career in England, jump to France, and then... jump back to England.
It’s been reported that the NWSL and Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga could added to the game as post-launch content in 2023, possibly around the same time as the FIFA Women’s World Cup is added to the game, ahead of the next summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Perhaps when the additional women’s leagues are added into the game, then we could see Career Mode functionality as well.
While OL Reign and other NWSL clubs aren’t included, some of their players are still in the game because of their place in their respective national teams. Please note that the players mentioned here are based on the game’s default roster and a day one roster update. For the ratings themselves, please direct all inquiries to EA Sports FIFA’s Twitter account.
OL Reign Players in FIFA 23
PLAYER | COUNTRY | FIFA 23 RATING |
---|---|---|
PLAYER | COUNTRY | FIFA 23 RATING |
Quinn | Canada | 77 |
Jordyn Huitema | Canada | 75 |
Jimena López | Mexico | 74 |
Alana Cook | United States | 81 |
Rose Lavelle | United States | 86 |
Megan Rapinoe | United States | 85 |
Defender Sofia Huerta is not on the United States roster, despite receiving multiple recent call-ups and being a part of the CONCACAF W Championship winning squad in real life. How/why this omission happened is something only EA Sports can answer, but no doubt at some point, you have to think a roster update will see your favorite right back in the video game.
Brazil’s women’s national team is in FIFA 23, however due to a licensing issue, actual player names and likeness is not in the game, much like their men’s national team counterparts. So while there likely is a player profile in the game that could be midfielder Angelina, her name and image are not present.
Here are some in-game shots of the OL Reign players that are currently available in FIFA 23. Obviously some of the models look nothing like their real life players. This is a case of faces not being scanned by EA, which is its own separate thing of scheduling teams to visit one of their studios. Here’s a behind the scenes video of what that process looks like.
And with the inclusion of English and French clubs, here are the ratings of some former Reign players.
Former Reign players in FIFA 23
PLAYER | CLUB/COUNTRY | FIFA 23 RATING |
---|---|---|
PLAYER | CLUB/COUNTRY | FIFA 23 RATING |
Kim Little | Arsenal | 88 |
Steph Catley | Arsenal | 83 |
Rebekah Stott | Brighton & Hove Albion | 78 |
Katrine Veje | Everton | 73 |
Eugénie Le Sommer | Olympique Lyonnais | 84 |
Dzsenifer Marozsán | Olympique Lyonnais | 84 |
Sarah Bouhaddi | Paris Saint-Germain | 82 |
Lydia Williams | Paris Saint-Germain | 81 |
Rachel Corsie | Scotland | 78 |
Adriana Leon | Canada | 77 |
“It’s in the game!” is the iconic motto of EA Sports, with the saying going back to print ads of, “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game.” Women’s club teams being added to the FIFA series is long overdue, and while their inclusion could have been more robust, what’s available on day one and the intentions of adding post-launch content, could be a sign of things to come for the iconic video game series as it flies under its new name in 2023 and beyond.
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