(Football news) FIFA 23 will feature women’s teams for the first time in the history of the series. The game will launch with the FA Women’s Super League and the French Division 1 Féminine but Electronic Arts has reiterated that they plan on expanding the roster in the future. EA also revealed on Tuesday that Sam Kerr will feature on their global cover for the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition, the Chelsea star becoming the first woman to do so in the franchise’s history. If that’s not all, FIFA 23 will feature the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar as well as the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 

Electronic Arts first featured women’s football in FIFA 16 after a successful 2015 Women’s World Cup. The game featured only a few international sides which increased to a total of 22 in FIFA 22 and the game also let players create a female player for the game’s Pro Clubs mode for the first time. However, the games received criticism that the inclusion of women’s football was merely a public endeavor and the franchise wasn’t actively focusing on promoting the sport. In a statement released by Matt Lafreniere, producer of FIFA 23, he said “We’re committed to building an equitable experience and aspire to help grow women’s football”. EA have confirmed that female players have been motion captured to ensure authentic animation and the matches will feature the game’s Hypermotion 2 technology to create realistic movements on the fly.

Electronic Arts are not the only publication who have shifted their attention to the women’s game as 2K Games have also announced a new installment of its NBA 2K sim series, NBA2k23 WNBA Edition which will focus on female basketball players. Sports Interactive is another publication that will not feature women’s teams in their popular Football Manager series. As for FIFA, it’s going to be the end of an era for the iconic franchise as the publisher will be losing their license to use the football governing body’s name due to disagreements over costs and exclusivity. Electronic Arts will now be renaming their future football games EA Sports FC from 2023. 

Also read: Sam Kerr becomes first woman to be featured on FIFA's global game cover