EA Sports has revealed the first details of FIFA 20 including the brand-new mode called Volta which is very reminiscent of the old FIFA Street games with skill-focussed matches of 5v5, 4v4 and 3v3.
On top of that, EA also revealed some updates to gameplay including new set piece systems, better defending and overhauled shooting.
Considering this game will decide the next year of their careers, pro players were as vocal as ever about the announcements. One of the loudest voices in the community is Kurt Fenech who is always critical of EA and the games but surprisingly has already bought into the hype of FIFA 20.
It turns out VOLTA is a big selling point for the Maltese player who also has hopes that this will result in skills becoming less prevalent in the main game and in Ultimate Team.
New York City FC's Chris "NYC Chris" Holly, who is the first ever eChampions League champion , was equally excited for the new mode but that excitement quickly died down when he found out that the game would not let you play online in a team made up of your friends.
You can play the game online with a friend on the couch against others but currently at the time of writing, there will not be a Pro Clubs style option that allows you and your friends to play as your created players together in one team.
It was a glaring omission that many shared major disappointment in including New York Red Bull eMLS player and FIFA esports presenter Mike LaBelle who wants to see more community feedback.
Chukwuma "ChuBoi" Morah was hands-on with the game at EA Play in Los Angeles and said that everyone in attendance asked EA to add the option to play with friends online - perhaps we'll see the option added to the game at a later date.
Moving away from Volta, ChuBoi gave his impressions and in-depth information about some of the new gameplay updates.
Though there was one change to gameplay that really had a few pro players heated, chain skill moves. EA decided that pulling off strings and combinations of skill moves was making defending too hard and the game unrealistic.
To try and combat this, in FIFA 20 there will be a higher chance of error and losing the ball each time you perform a consecutive skill move. Not only is this devastating for skill move focused players, it also adds a random chance to gameplay which is rarely popular in competitive games.
There is a lot of excitement for FIFA 20 but many in the community are also being cautious and there's plenty of feedback for EA Sports to work through. The publishers have a lot to work on as some players are harder to please.
