FIFA 16 Will Introduce Female National Teams To The Franchise

There isn’t much currently known about FIFA 16 as of yet. EA has remained relatively tight lipped on the whole thing, the only hints at more information on their site come from the giant clock counting down until E3. We will obviously know more next month. What we do know is this. In keeping with the times, FIFA 16 has announced that they are including twelve female national teams to the game. They are: USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, Australia, England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, and Sweden. For the first time in the franchise’s history, female players are being recognized and given their place in the iconic game.

This is undoubtedly a good first step; it would have been nice to see more teams, but I can appreciate the time it takes to make a game and the considerations that have to ultimately be made. Hopefully further additions will be made in the future, either in the next game or in DLC for those that wish to purchase it. However, EA has decided that female teams will not be able to play against male teams, “keeping in line with how women’s football is played in real life at this level.” Due to this, there are some unfortunate restrictions in Fifa 16. Female teams will only be playable in Kick Off, offline tournaments, and online friendly matches. Female players will also receive their ratings in comparison to other female players. I can see the logic, I’m just not sure why it should be restricted for friendly matches; surely gamers should be able to play with whoever they want in a friendly match – it doesn’t count for anything. And if gamers wanted to do an online tournament with only the female teams, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be able to. But, I digress, this is still a good first step.

The decision has caused quite a stir on social media, being received with both praise and cynicism. A quick glance on Twitter gives you a whole slew of rather distasteful comments. Personally, I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. We’ve been given more players and the opportunity to play with teams that we have been unable to play before. If anything, FIFA 16 is simply giving people more opportunities to play as the teams that they enjoy watching play in real life. Isn’t that the point of FIFA?

FIFA 16 will be released this September on PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, and PS4.