FIFA 23 will be the latest iteration in a series that has long sought to realistically transfer the game of football to the digital space, and developer EA Vancouver has turned its attention to the field itself. As the game mechanics in general became more and more clear, FIFA constantly improved the small details to convey an authentic experience. FIFA 23 went so far as to include physics for individual goalkeeper fingers, each of which affects the approaching kick differently, but a much more noticeable improvement in the football simulator is the magnificent, a persistent patch of grass.
For 30 years of its existence, FIFA has established itself as a leader in the football simulation industry. While this is certainly not without drawbacks, the gap has only widened since the latest version of FIFA’s leading competition, eFootball, was not completed when it was released. It can be argued that extending the one-year development cycle of FIFA will lead to a more impressive, exciting product, but so far, gradual changes have served EA well. A more realistic grass doesn’t seem like a big step forward for FIFA 23, and it’s not the gameplay itself, but the fact that the field is an integral part of the game, and the old, uniformly green, unblemished fields will soon stand out. strange.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to visit the EA campus in Vancouver, play an early build of FIFA 23 and get some insight into its development. The developers really wanted to discuss the updated grass, and one of them even said: “The grass is deep.” And it’s deep. Two-dimensional, very low-poly foliage is no longer the norm for video games, but the new powerful FIFA 23 kicks and improved passing will take place on an incredibly photorealistic field.
The FIFA 23 field will not remain flawless
Premier League teams and other top clubs hire some of the most talented teams in the world, responsible for maintaining the perfect playing surface, which is trampled every week. In the past, FIFA has emulated this sufficiently by presenting pristine pitches that were rarely viewed from a normal, remote perspective during a game. In addition to the more plausible grass textures, FIFA 23 has reactive fields with constant stress states. Sliding tackles and especially difficult tests leave pits and tracks that expose the dirt underneath. Such surface violations become a constant phenomenon until the end of the match.
This is not the most revolutionary change, especially compared to the updated women’s teams thanks to HyperMotion2 technology in FIFA 23, but it is an interesting change for the presentation of the series. Future FIFA releases will almost certainly be based on this new level of grass detail, further highlighting how compelling EA Vancouver’s digital simulation of real sports is. More significant and impressive changes in the gameplay are sure to arouse the greatest interest among players, but the new deep grass of FIFA 23 demonstrates a desire for authenticity, which is often lost among short annual development cycles.
