FIFA going free?
EA seems to be rolling right along with their browser-based gaming plans, as EA has unveiled it’s plans to bring the world’s most popular sport to the world wide web.
That’s right, FIFA Online will launch in beta later this year and will feature all the teams and players that you’ve seen in the current iterations of the game. The game will be scaled down for wider accessibility (think FIFA 10 for PC running on a low-end machine).
According to the FIFASoccerBlog, EA obviously sees this as a great opportunity to real in the other 99% of the soccer fan base that doesn’t own a FIFA title. This would allow for greater access and – with expected micro-transactions – could be quite a boon for the company.
The biggest drawbacks? Well – the free-to-play browser games are good, casual fun (I’ve had a great time with Tiger Woods Online), but if EA strays from it’s PC crowd entirely and goes browser-based, you’d likely lose all the customization that made the PC version such a hit with players. I wasn’t one of that crowd, but I know of many who are and probably wouldn’t be converting any time soon to the new format.
Overall I see no harm in the idea and am looking forward to seeing what EA does with this release while I cross my fingers that PC users will still see a traditional FIFA 11. For the hardcore FIFA-ites, the serious gaming will probably stay on the console, but if they get a good community emphasis around this that beckons gamers to come back for more, I’m all for it.
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