Chelsea manager Emma Hayes sees megastar Kylian Mbappé and her in-form striker Sam Kerr as a “dream pairing” both in real life and in the video game sphere. Both star on the cover of FIFA 23, the chart-topping soccer sim from EA Sports. I spoke to Hayes in London at the first event for EA SPORTS FC and FC Futures, where she was announced as an ambassador.
Hayes, currently managing through the tightest Barclays Women’s Super League title race yet, is pleased with the inclusion of women’s club soccer in FIFA 23, as participation in the girls game continues to grow in the US and Europe.
“[For kids] seeing it to be it plays a massive part, and it was not something I had,” she says.
Rumors are flying around on social media around women being added into Ultimate Team, which is the biggest game mode in EA’s chart-topping soccer sim series. Currently, mixed-gender teams can only happen in Pro Clubs and VOLTA, where you play as a custom avatar online. FIFA Ultimate Team, for now, only features current club players and icons of the past in the men’s game. For comparison, Hockey Ultimate Team in EA’s NHL 23 does have mixed lines.
“I like the idea of it – I think it’s about choice,” Hayes says, when asked about her thoughts on the rumors, and if soccer realism was an issue in video games.
“Why should we restrict who you know our children piece together? I think you don’t always have to have very traditional views on role models, and it’s nice to think that we can put together teams much in the way that we want to.”
Representation in-game builds a love for the game on the pitch, and it is something that Hayes has experienced personally with family members playing FIFA 23.
“You always have to start at home. When I spend Christmas Day with all the kids in my family being Chelsea Women, whether they’re [playing as] me, whether they’re using some of my players, you really realize the reach and the impact it’s having,” she says.
“We’re normalizing football for girls at home much in the same way that it has been for boys. We now need to take a gaming experience and bring that [to the pitch]. We’re already seeing that with an upturn in attendances.”
Sam Kerr is in fine form for her club, as is Mbappé, so with the rumors of mixed teams coming to Ultimate Team in the next EA SPORTS FC title, I asked what Hayes thought about that partnership.
“We should just talk about the qualities that each player can bring! Because I’m sure they would make a fabulous strike partnership,” Hayes grins.
I also spoke to David Jackson, VP of Brand Marketing at EA Sports, about how women’s soccer will evolve with the rebrand of the game. Critics of the expansion in FIFA 23 have claimed that club soccer lacks immersion, feels unfinished, and sits as a detached part of the overall game experience.
We have a deep, deep commitment to women’s football. As I said we’ve spent a number of years educating [our teams]… Whether that’s physiological differences, gameplay differences, tactical differences, the business of women’s football,” he says.
Representation for women’s soccer is evolving, and Jackson admits that this will take more than one game to get it right “We will get to a phenomenal outcome for women’s football through the lens of our product. But it will be a multi-cycle thing.”
Jackson reveals there are ‘big five’ leagues in game which players might not realize is a deeper experience. These partnerships are vital as EA Sports separates from FIFA, which provided a lot of the licensing as part of the package. Jackson now negotiates his own deals, and two of the five leagues represent women’s soccer.
“We have a big five in the game. The Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, NWSL and WSL. They are represented to a much higher level than any of our other platforms.”
Despite these positive comments, Jackson was tight-lipped on the rumors circulating about mixed teams coming to Ultimate Team.
“We will talk a lot more about product innovation and feature updates in July,” he says.
“What I can tell you is women’s football is immensely important to us. Wherever women’s football shows up it will show up at the highest quality in the context of our platform. We have what we believe to be a responsibility to ensure that women’s football is held in exactly the same esteem as men’s.”
Written by Alex Bugg on behalf of GLHF.