The women's side of football will play a starring role in EA Sports FC 24 for the first time ever this year.
Women have been featured in FIFA games for many years now. However, their involvement has often been restricted to kick-off and friendly modes.
Occasionally, EA has offered standalone game modes to celebrate women's football tournaments. For example, FIFA 23 has featured a tournament mode for the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Never before have women been integrated alongside men, in modes such as Ultimate Team. But in FC 24 that is set to change and the flexibility of squad building is set to reach a whole new level.
Icons and Hero cards have allowed players to assemble squads featuring stars of differing generations for a large portion of FUT's life cycle. So many will have believed that women's addition to Ultimate Team has long been coming.
Some will argue that integrating the men's and women's players side by side is unrealistic. However, Ultimate Team focuses on providing an immersive experience, rather than a realistic one regarding squad building. The gameplay aspect is where realism intervenes - squad building should and will always offer a fantasy aspect to it.
More women's players than ever will be featured in the game's database this year. FC 24 will mark not only a change in direction for EA Sports but a moment in time in which women's football is finally playing a major role in the company's video game titles.
Here we will look at all the different ways that women will feature in the game this year, as well as the licensing rights EA have accrued.
Licensed Leagues
The expansion of women's football in FC 24 involves a significant increase in the licensed leagues that will be present within the game.
Confirmed Women's Leagues
- Women's Super League
- D1 Arkema
- Liga F
- Frauen-Bundesliga
- National Women's Soccer League
The Women's Super League has featured in several editions of the FIFA series. It will again be present following the changeover to EA Sports FC.
D1 Arkema is a league of which EA acquired the licensing rights ahead of the release of FIFA 23 last year. It is the French top-flight women's league and features huge clubs such as UEFA Women's Champions League record holders Olympique Lyon.
EA has maintained the rights to deliver an accurate replication of the league's clubs, players and possibly even stadiums in FC 24.
Liga F is Spain's peak offering when it comes to women's football. EA has moved swiftly to ensure the league can be featured in their upcoming release. It is only right that the league that is home to Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas is delivered authentically in FC 24.
The Frauen-Bundesliga represents the top level of women's football in Germany and this league is a fresh addition for FC 24. This means that huge clubs such as Bayern Munich will be given the full authentic treatment in the first edition of EA Sports FC.
The National Women's Soccer League is the United States' top footballing league. It was added as a new addition for FIFA 23 and will be going nowhere ahead of the rebrand to EA Sports FC.
Many would argue that the league is the strongest across the globe in terms of the women's game. It does contain the vast majority of the dominant US Women's National Team after all.
With women set to take a position in the new game that is much closer to centre stage, these five licensed leagues are a solid base for EA Sports to build on in upcoming years.
UEFA Licensing
Sticking with confirmed news in terms of licensing for the time being. EA Sports' renewal of the licensing rights for UEFA competitions will have a huge impact on women's football in FC 24.
The UEFA Women's Champions League is set to be delivered authentically in the new title. From television broadcast graphics to the official UCL anthem - EA Sports will offer a video game experience like no other when it comes to replicating women's football's greatest competition.
The fact EA have included the rights to the women's competition in the agreement with UEFA would suggest they will make a solid women's career mode experience available in FC 24.
There is not yet any confirmation that a separate women's mode will be available, but it would be a shame if the UWCL is only available as a standalone tournament in the game.
The UEFA licensing in addition to the licensing of the individual women's leagues should mean many authentic women's stadiums will be included in FC 24. This will make the journey to reaching the UWCL final even more realistic and rewarding.
Women in Ultimate Team
The biggest news when it comes to women's football in EA Sports FC is that women's players will feature in Ultimate Team. The stars and legends of the women's game will exist in EA's flagship game mode alongside their male counterparts.
This is set to open up a plethora of squad-building options that have never been available before.
For many years FIFA players have been able to assemble squads of players from different sections of history when it comes to the men's game. But now two different sides of the game - men and women - will be integrated side by side.
This can only be positive for one of EA's main messages - "football is for everyone". Aside from offering the most immersive experience yet, the gaming company is also showing they are in support of inclusivity in football. The women's game will be treated with the importance it deserves.
How will women be integrated alongside men?
- Packs - Both men's and women's cards will be available together in packs from the Ultimate Team store.
- Transfer Market - All tradeable men's and women's players will be available on the same Ultimate Team transfer market.
- Objectives - Both men's and women's cards will be eligible to complete objectives. Both will also be available as rewards through objectives during the game's cycle.
- Squad Building Challenges - Both men's and women's cards can be submitted into SBCs - items from both sides of the game can also be received as rewards for completing SBCs.
- Draft - The Ultimate Draft game mode will offer selections from both the men's and women's games.
How will chemistry work?
The overall chemistry system in FC 24 will be unchanged from FIFA 23. But there will be an added opportunity to link players from the men's game to players from the women's game.
All women's cards will link to players who share the league or nation with them. This means players of the same nation can be linked regardless of their gender.
Women's footballers will also be linkable to men's footballers that play for the same affiliated club. For example, Arsenal's men's players can be linked with stars from the women's team in Ultimate Team.
How will player ratings work?
Player ratings for women's players in Ultimate Team will be relative to the players they play against in the real world. For example, Putellas will perhaps receive a rating in the 90s as the leading midfielder in the world. Sam Kerr and Alex Morgan should receive high ratings when it comes to attacking players.
It is likely a rare selection of players will receive ratings of 90 and above, with most being given ratings between 75 and 89.
Women's Icons and Heroes
EA Sports have confirmed that new Icons and Heroes will be included in FC 24, for legendary women's stars of the past.
It is likely that Mia Hamm and Alex Scott will head the list of women's Icons in the new game. Both are present on the official Ultimate Edition cover of the game.
Several Twitter leakers have suggested that the pair are to be given cards on Ultimate Team in the upcoming release.
It is yet to be seen whether each women's Icon cards will receive three separate variants similar to men's Icon cards. It is likely that FC 24 will release a small range of Icons and Heroes from the women's game.
In future titles, EA could add to their Icon and Hero stars once more rights are acquired, and more partnerships are made with iconic stars from past generations of the women's game.
FC 24 is set to offer the most inclusive and immersive football video game to date, we will surely hear even more stunning details about the implementation of women's football prior to release.