FIFA 23 will be the last part in the EA Sports FIFA franchise.
The EA Sports video game has grown into one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, with over $20 billion in game sales alone, plus the valuable FIFA Ultimate Team game mode which is valued at approximately $1.2 billion annually.
In May, EA Sports and FIFA announced their partnership spanning over 20 years will come to an end.
Although this does not necessarily spell the end of the game, it certainly feels like the end of an era. And the user reviews on Metacritic, after the opening weekend, suggest that it might well be time for both EA Sports and FIFA to move on to new projects within the football gaming world.
What is FIFA 23's Metacritic score?
While the critic reviews scored a generally favourable 77, the user reviews were nothing short of a disaster, with a rating of 2.3.
A major criticism is that the game is scripted, preventing games from being too one-sided, something EA Sports have denied for years, but a common beef among gamers. Supposed evidence of this is the poor level of the goalkeepers and players failing to respond to direction.
FIFA 23's Metacritic score after opening weekend is brutally low
What has the response been to FIFA 23?
Promotion of gambling is another criticism, with the loot boxes coming under fire.
Some other negative reviews feel that the franchise have become complacent, simply updating the previous edition by substituting 23 for 22 and one even going as far as to say it was like FIFA 14 with current players.
The presentation of the game has also been slated with a complaint about the game stuttering and that when a switch is made to full-screen it can cause the game to become unplayable. The problems on the technical side extend to in-game substitutions being too difficult to make, with users complaining about conceding goals as they switched their team.
Several reviews have described it as the worst game the franchise have produced “same game, new problems” was one user’s opinion after supposedly having played the game for over 20 hours.
FIFA 23's Metacritic score after opening weekend is brutally low
FIFA 23's Metacritic score after opening weekend is brutally low
FIFA 23's Metacritic score after opening weekend is brutally low
FIFA 23's Metacritic score after opening weekend is brutally low
The levels within the game have been cited as a problem with some claiming that semi-professional is too easy, professional boring and world class being too difficult, with the manufacturers failing to get a challenging, but interesting difficulty mode.
There are some positive comments, but they are very much in the minority.
The future of FIFA
As for the future, EA Sports plan to release EA Sports FC. As of now, not much is expected to be different about the new iteration, aside from the name. While the game has lost the FIFA brand, EA Sports has separate deals with 300 clubs and leagues around the world, allowing the player names, club, and competitions to continue existing in-game after the change.
FIFA, meanwhile, could create their own video games with other developers and partners.