EA Sports FC 24: the Fifa follow-up brings women’s football and slick play styles to the fore

So how does the post-Fifa branded game hold up? Surprisingly well, thanks to new motion innovations and more inclusivity

The world of football is strange and unpredictable. Leicester City's 2016 Premier League win. Diego Maradona's Hand of God. Sylvester Stallone playing in goal in Escape to Victory. And then, in May 2022, Electronic Arts lost the $20bn Fifa licence, putting a sudden end to the world's bestselling sports game. The split came after the football body demanded double the previous $150m sum to use its brand. Huge corporations falling out over eye-popping amounts of money? Not so strange and unpredictable after all.

Now, we have EA Sports' solo version of their beautiful game: EA Sports FC 24. Also to be known henceforth as the slightly less clunky, FC 24. So, what is a Fifa game without the, erm, Fifa part? According to the development team (the same team that made the Fifa games), this latest iteration is built on new animation technology and a fresh PlayStyles feature. The latter offers an intricate level of player customisation recognising that every player has a distinctive style, allowing you to give special skills to your squad members to make the most of their specific abilities.