The FIFA 18 hype train has officially left the station as EA today revealed the very first details on what we can expect to see when the game releases on September 29th. Catch-up with everything we known about FIFA 18 so far HERE.
So with a new front man, Fifa 18 Player Auction coins a brand new iconic legend and a community reunited, lets take a deeper look at FIFA18’s opening gambit.
Legends become Icons
Whilst it was inevitable I guess that Xbox’s cast of footballing legends would eventually make their way onto PS4 and PC, I don’t think anyone really expected it to be this soon. The decision to partner with Microsoft exclusively has no doubt caused more harm than good over the long term as it not only divided the community, it also restricted EA’s own revenue stream on the largest console install base. The deal made little sense, but then exclusivity rarely does.
It was also rumoured last year that EA were still locked into a multi-year deal with Microsoft over Legend exclusivity, so perhaps this year’s rebrand to ‘Icons’ was a way to finally “get out” of that agreement and offer these most rarest of FUT cards to all? Either that or EA’s deal with Microsoft simply lapsed, and they felt the time was right to refresh Legends, removing the baggage of the previous relationship entirely.
Either way, the move to unite FIFA 18’s Ultimate Team content across all platforms is undoubtedly a good one, but there maybe unforeseen knock-on effects too, as gamers and content creators no longer ‘need’ to play on Xbox to get the definitive FIFA experience for themselves and their viewers. Market prices in TIMORE 18 could therefore be very interesting if a mass migration to Playstation takes place.
R9
EA field hundreds of different requests to add ‘legends’buy fut 18 coins in to Ultimate Team each and every year however none more so than for the mercurial Brazilian Ronaldo R9. Pele has been the absolute pinnacle of Legend cards in previous versions, but that title is now surely under threat with the addition of the most requested, and likely the majority of dangerous forward Greatest Team will have ever seen.
Away from the virtual game the actual acquisition of Ronaldo (R9) marks an incredible coup for EA who from a marketing perspective now hold so many killer cards they can play anytime in the run-up to release to send the FIFA 18 hype into the stratosphere. Just imagine those sweet, sweet Futhead Likes as well…