Gear up for yet another edition of FIFA that hits stores, as always, in late September. EA Sports has officially announced the release date of FIFA 17 -- Sept. 29 -- along with some potentially game-changing news: FIFA 17 is ditching its former gameplay engine in favor of Frostbite, the same engine employed in many of EA’s other franchises, including Battlefield, Dragon Age, Need for Speed and Star Wars Battlefront.
From the looks of the trailer above, the decision to shift FIFA over to Frostbite appears to be a beneficial one. Towards the end of the video you can see Chelsea FC’s Frostbitten Eden Hazard looking nearly identical to his real-life counterpart. Of course, there can be no official verdict until FIFA 17 arrives, but the transition from Ignite -- EA’s former engine -- appears to have paid off.
“Frostbite unlocks a whole new world of possibilities for the FIFA franchise and its fans,” said David Rutter, VP and Executive Producer. “We have never been as excited as we are today about the future of football and the experiences we are going to deliver in FIFA 17.” It’s not yet clear what those experiences will be, but EA promises that Frostbite will deliver “authentic, true-to-life action, [that] takes players to new football worlds, and introduces fans to characters full of depth and emotion.”
FIFA 17 also rolled out its reveal with the help of four “football ambassadors.” Along with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, James Rodriguez of Real Madrid C.F., Anthony Martial of Manchester United and Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund “worked with EA SPORTS to bring to life the gameplay innovation which will be revealed at EA Play.” Oh yeah, you can also grab these players on loan in the Ultimate Team mode if you pre-order FIFA 17.
More details on FIFA 17 will emerge at the aforementioned EA Play event on June 12 at 4 p.m. EDT. The showcase is a pre-E3 event before the main expo kicks off two days later on June 14.
FIFA 17 arrives in North America on Sept. 27, and launches globally on Sept. 29. The game will be released on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Stay tuned to iDigitalTimes for more updates.
