| FIFA 20 | |
|---|---|
 North American PS4 cover art featuringReal Madrid'sEden Hazard | |
| Developers | EA Vancouver EA Romania[1] |
| Publisher | EA Sports |
| Producers | Aaron McHardy Nicholas Wlodyka Mat Thomas Sebastian Enrique |
| Designer | Matthew Prior |
| Composer | Nafrom |
| Series | FIFA |
| Engine | Frostbite 3 (PS4, Xbox One and PC only) |
| Platforms | |
| Release | 27 September 2019 |
| Genre | Sports |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
FIFA 20 is afootballsimulation video game published byElectronic Arts as part of theFIFA series.[2] It is the 27th installment in the series and was released on 27 September 2019 forMicrosoft Windows,PlayStation 4,Xbox One andNintendo Switch.[3] This is the first game in the main series to not haveXbox 360 andPlayStation 3 versions sinceFIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup andFIFA 08 respectively.
Real Madrid wingerEden Hazard was named the new cover star of the Standard Edition, withLiverpool defenderVirgil van Dijk on the cover of the Champions Edition.[4] FormerJuventus and Real Madrid midfielderZinedine Zidane was later named as the cover star for the Ultimate Edition.[5]
The game featuresVOLTAFootball for the first time, a new mode that provides a variance on the traditional 11v11 gameplay and focuses on small-sidedstreet andfutsal games.[6] The mode shares similarities to the formerFIFA Street series.[7]
The online servers for the game were shut down on 6 November 2023.[8][9]
Gameplay changes toFIFA 20 focus primarily on a new feature titledVOLTA Football.[10] The mode, which translates to 'return' in Portuguese, focuses on street football rather than the traditional matches associated with theFIFA series, similar to theFIFA Street series.[11] It includes several options to play in three versus three, four versus four and five versus five matches, as well as with professionalfutsal rules.[12] The mode will incorporate the same engine, but places emphasis on skill and independent play rather than tactical or team play.[13]
Additionally, players have the option to create their custom player by gender, clothing, shoes, hats, accessories and tattoos.[14] Following the completion of the three-part series"The Journey" inFIFA 19, players are now able to follow a similar storyline mode inVOLTA Football, which would be played with the player's own character.[6] Alex Hunter also makes a cameo in the game, along with his agent Beatriz Villanova.
Changes were also made to the traditional 11 versus 11 mode to encourage more one-on-ones and off-the-ball space creation. New penalty and free-kick mechanics were implemented and updates were made to the ball physics.[15]
VOLTA Football includes 17 locations, with each providing a unique experience. In addition to the generic warehouse and parking lot, VOLTA Football features venues based in real-life cities, namelyAmsterdam,Barcelona,Berlin,Buenos Aires,Cape Town,Lagos,London,Los Angeles,Mexico City,Miami,New York City,Paris,Rio de Janeiro,Rome andTokyo.[16]
Commentary is once again provided byMartin Tyler andAlan Smith and alternating withDerek Rae andLee Dixon for all competitions, withAlan McInally providing in-game score updates andGeoff Shreeves providing pitch-side injury updates.
Each player has his own overall rating, withLionel Messi having the highest rating in the game with a 94.[17]
Pro clubs is a game mode inFIFA 20 where players can create personalised pros and compete in a squad against other squads online. The objective is to rise up the Divisions, starting in Division 10 and climbing to compete for the Division 1 title.
Ultimate Team features 88 icon players, including 15 new names.Carlos Alberto,John Barnes,Kenny Dalglish,Didier Drogba,Michael Essien,Garrincha,Pep Guardiola,Kaká,Ronald Koeman,Andrea Pirlo,Ian Rush,Hugo Sánchez,Ian Wright,Gianluca Zambrotta andZinedine Zidane all feature as icons for the first time.[18][19]
Two new game modes – King of the Hill and Mystery Ball – are also incorporated in Ultimate Team following their previous inclusion in kick-off mode.[20] Mystery Ball gives the attacking side boosts to passing, shooting, dribbling, speed or all attributes, adding unpredictability to every match.[21] King of the Hill sees players fight for possession in a randomly generated zone on the pitch to boost the amount the next goal is worth.[22] Ultimate Team also includes a new dedicated kit supporting Premier League's No Room for Racism campaign.[23]
Career Mode, following feedback from the community, saw some major updates – mainly to the manager mode.[24] New additions include fully interactive press conferences and player conversations, an improved player morale system which can affect the team or individual players stats, performance levels and stance with the manager. The ability to fully customise the manager's appearance and gender, a new dynamic player potential system, live news screenshots, league oriented UI and new negotiation environments.[25]
The player, nicknamed "Revvy", successfully tries out for the street football team "J10", named for and led by legendary street footballer, Jason "Jayzinho" Quezada. J10's dream to win the World Championship inBuenos Aires are dashed when Jayzinho suffers an injury that will sideline him for several months. While Revvy and Sydney "Syd" Ko decide to stay on the team, the others players see no chance of winning without Jayzinho and quit. Jayzinho plans to forfeit a tournament in Tokyo organized by fellow legend Kotaro Tokuda. Revvy convinces Jayzhino to have Kotaro find a replacement third player to meet the tournament's three player requirement.
In Tokyo, Kotaro introduces a third player to join Revvy and Syd on the field. To J10's surprise, one of their former teammates, Peter Panna, is playing for an opposing team. After defeating his team to win the tournament, Peter apologies for leaving and is invited back into J10, after which they play an exhibition against Kotaro's team.
J10 travels toAmsterdam to train with legendary player Edward Van Gils, and find former teammate Big T as well. Big T challenges J10 to play and win five consecutive matches, which they accomplish. J10 defeats Big T's team and Revvy asks him to rejoin J10. Afterward, J10 plays against legendary street footballer Rocky Hehakaija's team.
Jayzinho sends J10 toRio de Janeiro to recruit former member Bobbi Pillay. Bobbi had been training local youths in street football and invites J10 to play against her and her pupils, agreeing to return to J10 if they win. After winning,Vinícius Júnior and legendary street player Issy Hitman play against J10.
Thanks to J10's winning streak and Syd's social media campaigning, Revvy is invited to the prestigious Pro Street Invitational inNew York City byAlex Hunter's agent, Beatriz Villanova. Additionally, J10 earn a place in the World Championships.
At the Pro Street Invitational, Revvy learns that Jayzinho was originally going to be invited, but was replaced by Revvy due to his injury. Playing alongside and against several professional footballers, Revvy wins the tournament to great fanfare, but is accused by Jayzinho of undermining his leadership and stealing his glory.
At the World Championship, Revvy discovers that Jayzinho has entered the tournament with a team composed of all the legendary street players they played against. Furthermore, Jayzinho has reclaimed the name J10 for his new team, prompting Revvy to choose a new name for their own team to play under.
As Revvy's team progresses through the tournament, Beatriz offers to represent Revvy and get them on a professional team. This development upsets Syd, as she assumes Revvy will abandon her as their other teammates had. Revvy reveals that before joining J10, they were offered contracts from several professional teams, but the offers were rescinded once Revvy fell into depression following their sister's sudden death. Revvy thanks Syd for helping them overcome their depression by reminding them of her, which Syd appreciates.
Revvy's team beats J10 to become the World Champions. Revvy invites Jayzinho to lift the trophy at the celebration, publicly crediting him for establishing J10 and mentoring them. Jayzinho reconciles with Revvy and accepts Vinícius Júnior's offer to run street tournaments across the world, while Revvy declines Beatriz's offer in favor of continue playing street football for J10 with Syd.
The game features more than 30 officially licensed leagues, over 700 clubs and over 17,000 players. For the first time in FIFA History, the RomanianLiga I and its 14 teams were added, as well asEmirati clubAl Ain, who were added following extensive requests from the fans in the region.[26][27]
Juventus,Boca Juniors,River Plate andColo-Colo are not featured after they signed exclusive partnership deals witheFootball PES 2020. As a result, they are instead referred to as Piemonte Calcio (Juventus), Buenos Aires (Boca Juniors), Núñez (River Plate) and CD Viñazur (Colo-Colo).[28] While these teams feature the players' likenesses, their official badges and kits are not licensed, and thus replaced by custom designs created by EA Sports. The three teams' stadiums, theJuventus Stadium,La Bombonera,El Monumental andEstadio Monumental, are replaced in the game by generic stadiums as well.Bayern Munich is featured in the game with their licensed players and kits, but without their home stadiumAllianz Arena, which also happens to be exclusively licensed to PES 2020.[29]
FIFA 20 retains the exclusive licenses to theUEFA Champions League,UEFA Europa League, andUEFA Super Cup, first seen inFIFA 19. The deal includes authentic broadcast packages, branding, and custom commentary.[30] Additionally, theCopa Libertadores,Copa Sudamericana and theRecopa Sudamericana is featured in the game via an update released on 13 March 2020.[31]
EA also signed a deal withITV to use theSoccer Aid branding included in the 10 June 2020 update, containing FUT icons in Kick-Off.[citation needed]
There are 90 fully licensed stadiums from 15 countries inFIFA 20, as well as 29 generic stadiums.[32]Bramall Lane has been included followingSheffield United's promotion, ensuring that allPremier League teams have their respective stadiums.[33] Three new Spanish stadiums have also been added –Estadio El Alcoraz (home ofSD Huesca),Estadio De Vallecas (home ofRayo Vallecano) andEstadio José Zorrilla (home ofReal Valladolid).[32]
As part of an extensive new licensing deal, 13 new stadiums across theBundesliga and2. Bundesliga were included. These includeBayArena (home ofBayer 04 Leverkusen),Mercedes-Benz Arena (home ofVfB Stuttgart),Red Bull Arena (home ofRB Leipzig) andVolkswagen Arena (home ofVfL Wolfsburg).[34] Also added into the game is theGroupama Stadium, home ofOlympique Lyonnais inLigue 1;Red Bull Arena, home ofNew York Red Bulls inMajor League Soccer; as well as theAtatürk Olympic Stadium, the venue originally slated to host the2020 UEFA Champions League Final before the location was changed to Lisbon due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[35]2 new stadiums were added in 2020 when theCopa Libertadores was released in March. The stadiumEstadio Libertadores de América of the Argentinian clubClub Atlético Independiente is now available, as well as the stadiumEstadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón of the Argentinian clubRacing Club de Avellaneda.[36]
TheFIFA 20 demo was released on 10 September 2019 and includes 6 playable teams which can be played on the UEFA Champions League kick-off mode –Borussia Dortmund,Liverpool,Chelsea,Paris Saint-Germain,Tottenham Hotspur andReal Madrid[37] and a demo of the newVOLTA Football mode.[38] The demo was available forPS4,Xbox One andPC.[39]
FIFA 20 was the lastFIFA game that distributed a freedemo.[40]
The game was released through theEA Access subscription on 24 September 2019, which also offers a free 10 hour trial.
FIFA 20 features three cover stars across all regional editions.Real Madrid wingerEden Hazard was named the new cover star of the Regular Edition, withLiverpool defenderVirgil van Dijk on the cover of the Champions Edition.[4] Former Real Madrid midfielder and managerZinedine Zidane was later named as the cover star for the Ultimate Edition.[5]
Whilst the Xbox One, PS4 and PC versions have all of the new features, the Nintendo Switch version was released under the labelLegacy Edition, with updated kits, rosters and minor updates, but without the newVOLTA Football mode or any of the other new features.[41]FIFA 20 was not released onXbox 360 orPlayStation 3, makingFIFA 19 the final game in the series to be released on those platforms.[42]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | NS: 43/100[43] PC: 72/100[44] PS4: 79/100[45] XONE: 79/100[46] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Game Informer | 7.5/10[47] |
| GameSpot | 8/10[48] |
| IGN | 7.8/10[49] |
| Nintendo Life |   [50] |
| Push Square | 6/10[51] |
| Goal | 7.5/10[52] |
| Our Culture Mag | [53] |
| Talksport |  [54] |
| TechRadar | [55] |
| The Irish Times | [56] |
FIFA 20 received "generally favourable" reviews for the PS4[45] and Xbox One[46] versions of the game from critics, while the Nintendo Switch version received "generally unfavorable" reviews from critics,[43] according toreview aggregator websiteMetacritic.
Despite changing some of the mode's features, upon release, the game's Career Mode was criticised for being riddled with bugs including computer-controlled opposition managers picking unusually weak teams,[57] players changing positions seemingly at random, and unexplained ratings changes.[58] The criticism has been described as "issues that either turn its take on realism into a bit of a joke or break the game entirely", with claims that EA is attempting to cover up or downplay the game's flaws.[59] The "#FixCareerMode" hashtag trended for several days onTwitter in theUnited Kingdom, with fans hoping to draw attention to the issues in the mode.[60] On 16 October 2019, EA responded by releasing a new patch for the game which fixed various issues that were reported to be present.
In a re-review of the game by theBleacher Report, (it originally awarded the game a 7.5/10 rating), it was described as a 'defensive borefest', going on to criticise the game as frustrating and unbalanced; citing server issues, frustrating game mechanics such as the slow communication between players and the overpowering of AI defending mechanic (a criticism shared by various players online), as well as a general lack of 'fun challenges and rewards' in the popular 'Ultimate Team' mode.Bleacher Report then gave an updated score of 6/10. This view was shared by former world No. 1 FIFA player 'Fnatic Tekzz', who said at a pro event, "Nobody enjoys playing it."[61]
The Nintendo Switch version of the game was criticised for being released asLegacy Edition; a tagline given to versions of the game where only kits, rosters and stadiums are updated from the previous edition of the game.[50]
Many professional players online have widely criticised FIFA 20 as one of the most frustrating editions in the history of the franchise, citing the clunky gameplay, dynamic difficulty and balancing issues. Players have also criticised the popular 'Ultimate Team' for adopting a 'pay-to-play' model, citing the steps that Electronic Arts have taken to make the game more friendly for e-sports competitions.[61][62]In early October 2019, it was reported that some players' personal information was exposed to other gamers. Some players' that signed up to the Fifa 20 Global Series found a completed registration form with other people's information. The error exposed email addresses and birth dates of players. According to EA the problem affected about 1,600 people.[63]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Gamescom | Best Sports Game | Nominated | [64] |
| 2019 Golden Joystick Awards | Best Multiplayer Game | Nominated | [65] | |
| Titanium Awards | Best Sports/Racing Game | Nominated | [66] | |
| The Game Awards 2019 | Nominated | [67] | ||
| 2020 | Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | Best Music Supervision in a Video Game | Won | [68][69] |
| 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards | Sports Game of the Year | Won | [70][71] | |
| NAVGTR Awards | Game, Franchise Sports | Nominated | [72] |
