The latest version of the world’s biggest football game is coming soon. Goal tells you all you need to know about the new edition
The launch of the next FIFA game – FIFA 22 – is on the horizon and eager gamers certainly have the popular EA Sports title on their wishlist.
The coronavirus pandemic delayed the launch of last year’s edition, but as of yet, there are no delays expected for the release of the next version of the football game.
Goal takes a look at things such as the next FIFA release date, how much it costs to buy, the consoles it is playable on, player ratings and more.
When is FIFA 22 released?
FIFA 22 is expected to be released in September or October 2021, with every FIFA edition since FIFA Football 2003 released either in the last week of September or the first week of October.
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For most of the past few years, FIFA has been released in late September, but this was pushed back to early October for FIFA 21 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There are no major delays expected this year, so FIFA 22 could return to its usual spot on the release calendar and launch on consoles on Monday, September 20 or September 27.
The trailer for the game will be launched on July 11 and it is expect that FIFA 22’s new features and release date will be confirmed at EA Play Live on July 22.
There is a chance that it could be revealed ahead of the EA Play Live Main Event, with EA Sports running four smaller events in the run-up to EA Play Live.
The running order for the first three events has been revealed, including a Madden NFL 2022 preview on July 19, but football fans are speculating that the fourth event could contain FIFA 22 details.
On Tuesday, July 20, EA Sports is hosting an EA Sportlight event where they plan to show off “an extremely cool new addition to an extremely popular and long-running EA SPORTS franchise.”
What is the price of FIFA 22?
ConsoleStandardChampionsUltimatePS4 & PS5 £59.99 / $59.99£79.99 / $79.99£89.99 / $99.99Xbox One & Xbox Series-X £59.99 / $59.99£79.99 / $79.99£89.99 / $99.99PC £54.99 / $59.99£69.99 / $79.99£79.99 / $99.99Google Stadia TBC TBC TBC Nintendo Switch £44.99 / $49.99–
Last year, the standard edition of FIFA 21 cost £59.99 in the UK and $59.99 in the US. It is expected that prices should remain around the same for FIFA 22.
As well as the standard edition, EA Sports usually releases special versions of the game which have additional content such as extra packs, kits, items and players for FIFA Ultimate Team and Volta.
The special versions are more expensive than the standard edition and are available in both physical copy and download version.
FIFA 21 Champions Edition cost £79.99 in the UK and $79.99 in the US.
FIFA 21 Ultimate Edition was priced at £89.99 and $99.99 on the Xbox and Playstation official stores.
Which consoles will FIFA 22 be out on?
FIFA 22 is expected to be released on next gen consoles PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, as well as Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
EA Sports had a Dual Entitlement offer for FIFA 21 which allowed users to upgrade their PS4 copy to PS5 or Xbox One copy to Xbox Series X/S at no additional cost. This offer may return for FIFA 22 as many gamers may buy the game before getting a new console as a present during the 2021 holiday period.
The Nintendo Switch version of FIFA in recent years has been a squad update rather than a new game and it is possible that this ‘Legacy Edition’ version may be the case again for FIFA 22.
Google Stadia, which was launched in 2019, did not have FIFA 20, but FIFA 21 was available to play on the new platform. This should continue for FIFA 22.
When can I pre-order FIFA 22?
Once the release date for FIFA 22 is announced, eager gamers should be able to pre-order the new game.
Pre-ordering usually has additional benefits, such as lower prices as well as extra game content, like free players and loan players in Ultimate Team, as well as additional FUT packs and Volta content.
The Champions Edition and Ultimate Edition will likely be available for pre-order on all consoles.
What new features will FIFA 22 have?
Next Gen
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of FIFA 21 offered responsive haptic feedback, faster load times, an improved lighting system to make the game look more realistic, spatialised audio for a more immersive stadium experience and off-ball humanisation where players look and feel more like their real-life counterparts.
These changes should return for FIFA 22, with other game improvements set to be announced at EA Play Live on July 22.
Anthem jackets have been added for FIFA 22, improving the pre-game ambience and making the game feel more like its real-life counterpart.
Career Mode improvements
Career Mode is one of the main parts of the game which gamers want to see updated.
FIFA 21 added the ‘Quick Sim’ option where you could jump in and out of matches, while the Active Training System made player development much more dynamic.
Improved AI and transfer options also made the game more lifelike, but there are still demands for further improvements in FIFA 22.
Fans have speculated about the addition of an Online Career Mode, but there has been no official confirmation of this yet.
Gameplay
Each year, EA Sports adds new gameplay improvements on top of the graphic changes.
Agile Dribbling, Positioning Personality and Creative Runs were added last year, on top of previous improvements in defending, passing and dribbling.
These will probably be built on for FIFA 22 with other gameplay changes added.
It is expected that the expected goals (xG) stat will be added to player stats pages and graphics, while heat maps will also be improved in the full-time screens.
Tactics are set to get an overhaul, moving away from the 1-10 sliders to give users greater control over player positions and attacking build-ups.
Player switching is set to be improved, giving more variety in the choice of which defending player to switch to.
New Icons
There were over 100 icons in the last edition of FIFA and more should be added to FIFA 22.
A good indicator of which icons that will be added is the list of legendary players from FIFA Online.
The following players have recently been added to FIFA Online 4 and therefore could be added to FIFA 22:
- Gabriel Batistuta
- Robin van Persie
- Lucio
- Park Ji-Sung
- Jaap Stam
- Cha Bum-kun
- Diego Forlan
- Wesley Sneidjer
- Iker Casillas
Ultimate Team
The last few months of FIFA 21 Ultimate Team saw the addition of preview packs which allowed gamers to see the contents of packs before buying them on the store.
This is thought to take away the gambling aspect of Ultimate Team and make Store purchases more like downloadable in-game purchases than a game of chance, and thus avoid gambling legislation in certain countries.
As a result, there is a good chance these preview packs will be kept as a gameplay element in FIFA 22 Ultimate Team.
Volta
FIFA’s street football mode Volta has had continual updates such as players, clothing and items during the year and these will continue in FIFA 22.
New players, stadiums, locations and merchandise will be added for FIFA 22 as well as a new story mode.
Will VAR be in FIFA 21?
The introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is the biggest change to football in the modern era, with contentious decisions and moments now up for review.
Despite first being rolled out in 2017, VAR was not feature of FIFA 21 , and this is likely to continue with FIFA 22.
Official leagues & clubs
Since FIFA 20 Juventus are known as Piemonte Calcio , and EA Sports has lost more licenses to Pro Evolution Soccer in recent years.
PES recently acquired the license to Serie A side Atalanta, meaning EA Sports will not be able to use their proper name for the next three years, starting with FIFA 22.
Napoli and Roma have also signed exclusive deals with PES, which will surely disappoint fans of these Italian clubs.
Who is on the cover of FIFA 22?
Kylian Mbappe has been confirmed as the cover star of FIFA 22.
The France and Paris Saint-Germain star was the face of FIFA 21 and will continue in the new edition after it was confirmed by EA Sports on July 9.
In previous years, Eden Hazard, Virgil van Dijk, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Kevin De Bruyne and Paulo Dybala have also appeared on the game cover.
Konami’s deal with Juventus means Ronaldo will not return to the cover of FIFA for the foreseeable future.
Who are the FIFA 22 top rated players?
Lionel Messi is likely to be the highest-rated player in FIFA 22 again as he is currently the only 93-rated player in the live database.
Two players currently have a 92 rating: Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski.
Jan Oblak, Kevin De Bruyne and Neymar are all rated 91 overall, while Kylian Mbappe has the highest potential of any player in the game at the moment with a current rating of 90 and a potential rating of 95.
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