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Recommended Reading: The legacy of female players in 'FIFA'
How female characters in FIFA led to a diversity movement at EA Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat Discussions on diversity and equal pay have taken over in the week following the 2019 Women's World Cup, especially in the US. EA game designer Katie Scott explains how her work on FIFA's "The Journey" story mode lead to improving representation of female characters -- work that eventually kickstarted company-wide change.
Behind EA’s push to put more women in sports games
Until two years ago, there was no way to play female characters in FIFA, the world's most popular gaming franchise. But EA Sports changed that with the introduction of FIFA 16. That's because, for the first time ever, the studio revealed its flagship game would feature women soccer players. It was a great move toward diversifying the game's plot, albeit a risky one considering its core demographic: young men. That doesn't mean FIFA players aren't open-minded. But in an industry with a reputation for being misogynistic, EA Sports made itself vulnerable to potential backlash. It turns out the company needn't have worried: FIFA 16 quickly became one of the best-selling titles of the year.
Pirates are finding it harder to crack new PC games
Pirates at the infamous Chinese hacking forum 3DM are complaining that recent PC games are simply too darn hard to crack, according to Torrent Freak. The problem is apparently Denuvo, a copy protection scheme that prevents tampering of the underlying DRM. Two recent games that use the scheme, FIFA 16 and Just Cause 3, have still not been cracked, despite appearing in early December. Based on the current pace of encryption tech, "in two years time I'm afraid there will be no free games to play in the world," said one forlorn pirate.
What's on your HDTV: 'Minority Report', 'FIFA 16', 'CSI' series finale
Now that the Emmy Awards have wrapped up (and HBO walked away with a ton of them), it's time for the fall TV season to kick off properly. Minority Report debuts on Fox in just a few hours, returning us to the world of the 2002 movie, after the pre-cogs have been released. Also back tonight is CBS' Scorpion, in case you want to see more "hacking" on TV, and of course Castle. Tomorrow night Limitless follows Minority Report's movie-to-TV footsteps, where it's joined by The Muppets series premiere. On Sunday, the original CSI is wrapping up its run after 15 seasons and three spin-offs, but first we're curious to see if Heroes Reborn can recapture the (initial) magic of the original show. Gamers of course have Blood Bowl II to enjoy, along with FIFA 16 and Penarium. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed)
EA removes 13 female players from 'FIFA 16' after NCAA concerns
EA is no stranger to issues with the NCAA, and this time FIFA 16 women's rosters are the culprit. The gaming studio announced today that following an NCAA notice, it would remove 13 players from the game that are currently on or "likely" to be on college rosters. "We believe this decision denies these 13 athletes the opportunity to represent their countries in the game, but we have removed them from FIFA 16 to ensure there is no risk to their eligibility," EA said in a blog post. While EA didn't compensate those players for appearing in the game, the NCAA says that including them would still jeopardize their ability to take the pitch for their respective schools. The group of players that won't make the game includes six players from Canada, six from Mexico and one from Spain (detailed info here). All 12 women's national teams are now playable with EA Access Play it First Trials.
'FIFA 16' demo lets you control a women's team for the first time
FIFA 16 is a little special this year. For the first time ever, EA will let you play its football game as one of 12 women's national teams. It's a landmark moment in the series, and today you can see how it all works with the long-anticipated demo on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. You can step out onto the turf as one of two women's teams -- the USA or Germany -- or get to grips with one of 10 professional clubs: Barcelona, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Inter Milan, Manchester City, PSG, Real Madrid, Club Atlético River Plate and the Seattle Sounders. With whipped crosses, mid-air tackles and some new finishing animations, there's a lot here to sink your Suarez teeth into.
EA puts women on the cover of 'FIFA 16' for the first time
Back in May, EA announced that FIFA 16 would feature 12 national women's soccer teams, making it the first major sports franchise to focus on women's sports. Today marks another milestone: FIFA 16 is now also the company's first major sports title to feature a female athlete on its cover. Three of them, actually -- depending on where you live.
These were E3 2015's best games
E3 is (thankfully) over, and that means the press that cover the event have recently cast their votes for what they thought were the best games from the show. You know those blurbs on box art saying "winner of over 90 awards" and the like? This is partly where they come from. Collectively known as The Game Critics Awards, the governing body for them is made up of staff from over 30 editorial outlets, including Engadget, that attended gaming's Paris Fashion Week. For a game to even be up for consideration though, it has to be playable -- a stage demo or non-interactive trailer won't cut it. What's it mean for you? In the end, a better idea about what it's like to actually play the biggest games from E3, because we got to go hands-on with them. Without further ado, the winners are in the gallery below. Spoiler: Fallout 4 was pretty successful.
London councillor wants to ban 'FIFA' games after corruption scandal
Enough is enough. For one London councillor, the recent FIFA corruption scandal just crossed a line. He's calling for radical action: a ban on FIFA video games in Camden. Awale Olad told the Camden New Journal: "We should start off by hurting their business by discouraging people from buying their popular video games and put a stop to FIFA video game tournaments popping up across the borough." Exactly how a ban on local, independently-run FIFA competitions would affect football's world governing body remains unclear, however. Even banning the game outright, if such a move was possible, would probably affect publisher EA more than FIFA. Nevertheless, Olad seems determined and will be bringing the matter up at a full council meeting on Monday. Perhaps the Camden councillor is onto something though; a global boycott of FIFA 16 could grab the organisation's attention, and would it be so bad to give PES a chance this year?
'Pro Evolution Soccer 2016' is worth playing over 'FIFA'
I grew up with Winning Eleven, the franchise that Konami morphed into what we now know as Pro Evolution Soccer in North America. These days, I find myself playing EA Sports' FIFA, a choice I suspect is echoed by millions of football fans worldwide. During the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era, though, Konami's title was hands-down the far superior product, thanks to better game mechanics and, in general, being more fun. Unfortunately, Pro Evolution Soccer couldn't keep up with EA's perpetual resources, starting with the exclusive licensing deals for major leagues from across the world. But while Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, out September 15th, still won't let me play as Chelsea (it's called London FC), the refined gameplay and improved graphics could be enough to make me pick it over FIFA -- and I haven't felt that way in years.
'FIFA 16' will feature women soccer players for the first time
If you're entitled to play a sport in real life, then it's only fair that you can do so from the comfort of your couch. That's why it's good to see EA Sports announce that FIFA 16 will feature women's soccer teams for the first time. Now, users will be able to play as one of 12 international teams that include the USA, England, Brazil and France. It's a big step, too, since while you can get a licensed WNBA title from 2K Games, this is the first time EA has included a women's roster in one of its team-based games. In fact, the only woman we remember appearing in one of these games up to this point is Ronda Rousey in the UFC spin-off title.
