What if FIFA Had 2 Editions

[BJNT]

Over the past year my interest in soccer has grown to the point that I can say that it has become one of my favorite sports and FIFA has been a part of that starting with FIFA 16. I enjoy watching the big leagues in Europe but MLS(Go Houston Dynamo!) is my league of choice because I am an American I want to see the game grow in my country.

My biggest disappointment in the game is that all the transactions that are unique to MLS (SuperDraft, Trades, USL affiliates, etc) aren't included in career mode. Now I realize with it may be hard to implement a specific set of features that the rest doesn't do for one league. So what if there were two editions of the game? One would come out in the fall and the other would come out in the spring.

The fall edition would be FIFA as we know it currently but minus the MLS. The spring edition would be an MLS specific version of the game with the SuperDraft, trades, free agency, USL affiliates, academics with homegrown players, etc. And allow some import/export feature between the two games ala NCAA Football and Madden so teams would be able to do transfers and loans across the globe. Plus it would it convince people to buy both games.

Do you guys think that this would work?

[Rufio2031]

I personally don't think it would work.

They would then split the budget and I would have to believe that the MLS FIFA version will not sell nearly as well as the original version and would then be scrapped (or added back into the original version). I'm pretty sure as a consumer you don't want that either. You'd have to buy multiple products to get the same experience (minus the league nuances). On top of that it would be such an enormous pain to have to do the importing/exporting just to get players in your game.

It's not a matter of them not being able to implement the MLS having different rules, it's just that EA generally doesn't give enough of a damn to do anything about it. Who knows, maybe it's already in development. There are awful bugs in Career mode that have been in the game for several years and it's pathetic and embarrassing how little attention they give to crucial areas of their product.

[Bixer]

As nice an idea as it is, pure and simple I unfortunately just don't think it'd be worth EA's time to put all that effort in to get two slightly tweaked versions of the game.

Plus, if they appealed to the intricacies of one country's transfer/league system, they'd just get a barrage of people from other countries demanding they do the same for them.

[woodjer]

Honestly, I could see an MLS pack being DLC at best. No need to create an entirely new game just for that. My only worry about that route is that, as Bixer mentioned, other countries/associations would likely ask for something similar and then suddenly we have a bare-bones FIFA where people pay for the leagues they want. Not a fan of that.

Now...along those lines, I'd be a little more ok with a Free-to-Play version that is a collection of worldwide teams to be used in Play Now/Kickoff and then REASONABLY-PRICED DLC for the leagues that I really want to use in career (with the teams also available in Play Now).

[Turbojugend]

Quote: Originally Posted by woodjer

Now...along those lines, I'd be a little more ok with a Free-to-Play version that is a collection of worldwide teams to be used in Play Now/Kickoff and then REASONABLY-PRICED DLC for the leagues that I really want to use in career (with the teams also available in Play Now).

That's the route I seeing these games taking eventually (except for maybe the "reasonably-priced" part). Something like a free-to-play model, but with a monthly/seasonal subscription fee for each league, or something like that. I really think it's just a matter of time.

[Rufio2031]

Quote: Originally Posted by Turbojugend

That's the route I seeing these games taking eventually (except for maybe the "reasonably-priced" part). Something like a free-to-play model, but with a monthly/seasonal subscription fee for each league, or something like that. I really think it's just a matter of time.

In a way it's already happening as seen with iRacing. I for one am not a fan

[woodjer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rufio2031

In a way it's already happening as seen with iRacing. I for one am not a fan

The REASONABLY-PRICED part is what will make me ok/not ok with it. If I get a FIFA game and only ever want to play with MLS, I'd gladly drop $5 rather than having to pay $60 and get 25 other leagues that I don't care about. I don't know where my limits are just yet because the option isn't there for the games I play but, in the situation above, I couldn't see myself paying more than $10/league unless each one is fully supported with accurate player models, rules, etc. Even then, $15 would probably be it.

I think my biggest worry would be them charging $5 for the Polish league and then $30 for the BPL based solely on popularity. If I use this year's game as an example, I'm ok with paying a little more for the BPL because all of the stadiums are included and stuff. I'm talking about if they are the same from a features standpoint, I don't want to see the more popular ones cost more.

I don't know the first thing about iRacing so I can't speak to that example.

[Rufio2031]

Quote: Originally Posted by woodjer

I don't know the first thing about iRacing so I can't speak to that example.

Basically you subscribe to the game. You're subscription runs out you can't play anymore. You also have to purchase additional content such as different vehicles and tracks. If you envision it as a yearly release then it makes sense, but for one year you're paying well over twice as much for a normally priced game. Not to mention I believe it's online only which is dumb.

But you're exactly right. It definitely depends on the consumer's situation. I wouldn't want just one league in FIFA because then it would feel isolated and unrealistic. Since I want all the leagues or most of them, if I had to pay for them all separately then in the end I'd most definitely end up paying more in the end. This of course is a good reason as to why we could see things shift that direction.

Soccer is a global sport, and I know that could be said about other sports as well but not to this level.