It had already been speculated here and there, but it still caused an uproar when it was officially confirmed in Amsterdam in mid-July: Ultimate Team will be enriched with female professionals in EA SPORTS FC 24. To be more precise, about players from five international top leagues: the Women’s Super League from England, the D1 Arkema from France, the German Women’s Bundesligathe Spanish League F and the US League National Women’s Soccer League. In addition, selected clubs from the Women’s Champions Leaguewhich are based in other leagues, will also be represented.
Equality at every level
But how exactly should the players be integrated into Ultimate Team? That can be answered relatively easily: just like the men. That means female players too to pull into packs will be, in drafts for election stand, built into Squad Building Challenges and are also suitable for the new “Evolutions”. The mechanics should allow lower rated cards to be gradually upgraded by completing tasks with them. In addition, it will be the first time female icons and heroes give.
Equal treatment is also planned in terms of ratings. The best female footballers in the world should be able to match their male equivalents in their ratings. “We evaluate the players in comparison to the competition they face in reality,” senior producer Garreth Reeder revealed to kicker eSport in Amsterdam. Specifically, that means: one Sam Kerr and an Erling Haaland could have the same overall strength. This should make the female professionals playable.
Chemistry system with a twist
In order to incorporate the female stars around Kerr, Alexandra Popp & Co. into mixed teams, the items at club and national level are also used cross-gender links. So Reece James and his sister Lauren give each other chemistry points as both are from England and play for Chelsea. However, the leagues are separated. Alexandra Popp links to Giulia Gwinn or other players from the women’s Bundesliga, but not to Bayern’s new superstar Harry Kane.
However, the balancing remains open. Physical components in particular, such as body size, are still causing problems for EA SPORTS. A very relevant aspect, since the “body types” also have a decisive influence on how well an item actually performs on the virtual lawn. With regard to goalkeepers, Reeder also openly admits this problem. It was “a challenge” for which he could not name a solution in mid-July.
EA SPORTS leaves balancing questions unanswered
David Jackson, Vice President of EA SPORTS FC, got a little more specific. In an interview with kicker eSport, he admitted that women’s football is “a different sport from a technical, muscular and biochemical perspective” than men’s football. But he at least hinted at solutions: “You don’t send a small male player into a header duel with Haaland at a corner either. Maybe Haaland won’t get the ball at all because it’s collectively defended differently. Maybe there will be far fewer corners because that game is much smoother.”
Definitive facts will probably only be created when the game is released at the end of September. The developer also wants to announce some ratings beforehand, which should give a foretaste of the skills of players – which, according to Jackson, will be “enabled to do everything that men can do”. In case of doubt, perhaps at the expense of the otherwise desired realism.
