Fifa 23 review – EA’s final Fifa game bows out gracefully

PC, Xbox, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch; EA Sports/EA
Fittingly, this year's final edition of the perennial branded football sim at last achieves its aspiration of enjoyable realism

They think it's all over ... The football sim series that has graced the gaming charts every year since its launch in 1993 is about to face the final whistle, thanks to a licensing tussle with Fifa. Next year, Electronic Arts will be revealing its annoyingly named replacement, EA Sports FC, but for now, we get to run out on to this heavily branded pitch one last time.

It's immediately clear the development team was determined to go out on a high, throwing in a range of vital updates. At last we get to play women's league football, if only within the English and French premier divisions. Still, it's fun to play as the stars of the recent Euro 22 tournament, making a mazy run into the box as Beth Mead or marshalling the Olympique Lyonnais defence with Wendie Renard, and it may be genuinely inspiring and educational for girls who have got into the sport through that glorious summer tournament. And there is full online cross-play between consoles of the same generation (PC owners are able to play against PS5 and Xbox Series X pals) in seasons and friendlies, as well as Ultimate Team, broadening your competitive base considerably.