Electronic Arts plans to attract the last remaining PES fans to the FIFA series with their latest outing that provides “a more casual experience”.
There was a time when EA’s FIFA series dominated the football simulation genre, yet as the years rolled on another game, Winning Eleven or Pro Evolutions Soccer began gaining momentum and a considerable fan-base.
Within a few years, PES or Pro Evo, as it was called, knocked the FIFA gamers off their perch and established itself as ‘the’ football game.
FIFA had a hard time keeping up with their competitors but a change of management at the Canadian studio of EA Sports saw things change as the game began relying less and less on animations and more on physics.
The move paid off and the FIFA series is back at number one, wiping the floor with Pro Evo which just could not seem to recover.
EA announced that FIFA 12 had become the company’s fastest-selling sports title and that the game outsold Pro Evolution Soccer 12 by a ratio of 25 to 1.
It now seems that EA want to go in for the kill and are hoping that the last hardcore Pro Evo fans join the FIFA side when the publisher releases FIFA Street.
“We’re (EA) hopeful that maybe the last remaining hardcore PES group of players will be interested in FIFA Street.” Said Gary Paterson, the creative director of the latest FIFA Street game.
Earlier he commented on how EA saw the FIFA Street series as a gateway game to the core FIFA series. He explained, “We’re hopeful that we can use (FIFA) Street as a way to introduce people that love football video game into the EA Sports family.”
He continued, Also, maybe some other players see FIFA as being a bit intimidating for them, and we’re hopeful these are looking for a more casual experience. It’s a way for people to have their first experience in the world of football gaming and maybe in the future they can go on to be FIFA gamers.”
It does sound like a plan but whether or not it will be successful depends on how gamers receive FIFA Street which is set to hit stores in the United Kingdom on the 16th of March.
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