The Anti-consumer nature of FIFA 21 Legacy Edition.

FIFA 21 was released on October 6, 2020 on all major consoles to lukewarm reviews gaining a 72% on Metacritic; but on the other hand, the Nintendo Switch version of the game was received less favorably gaining a 33% on Metacritic. One may ask themselves how a game would get such polar opposite scores, and the reason comes from the subtitle that is on the Switch version of the game, Legacy Edition.

The Nintendo Switch isn’t as powerful a console as the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One X, and because of this EA had to cut out some features with the game, but instead of trying to port the same game and make an effort to remove a few of the more taxing features and dial down the graphics a bit, EA decided that the only thing fans would care about would be a roster update. In other words, the only difference from FIFA 20 to FIFA 21 was an update to the roster, and to make things worse this isn’t the first time this has been done due to FIFA 20 being called a legacy edition as well. So in essence if a person buys FIFA 21 Legacy Edition they would be buying a copy of FIFA 19 with the only difference being the teams getting updated with players that have moved clubs or retired.

EA showcased several new features in their marketing of the game and on their website, some examples of these features would be new gameplay features, improvements to the career mode and a new game mode called Volta, which would let the player play in street style soccer; all selling points that would be left out from the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

Nintendo’s consoles have always been underpowered compared to their competitors, but in previous generations the games would have some added bonuses for playing them on a Nintendo console. In FIFA 08 for the Nintendo Wii, the game would include a collection of minigames titled “Footii Party” which would let the players compete in games like Table Soccer and Juggling. EA is fully aware that they are releasing the title on limited hardware, but instead of working within the limitations and catering the experience to the users who want or can only play it on the Nintendo console, they decided that it would be acceptable to repackage a game that was released two years prior and sell it again under the pretenses that its a new game because it has an updated roster and a modified user interface.

FIFA 21 also features a mode called Ultimate Team, a mode in which one can build their dream team and compete with other players online. This mode has been a staple of the FIFA series for years now and since its inception it has been widely criticized for its pay-to-win business model and the similarities its pack system has to gambling. In the game, a player can build their team by opening packs which can be bought with currency that is earned by playing games or by using the in-game currency “FIFA points” which is bought with real money. The issue with the packs is that the players inside them are random, and because of this one can easily spend hundreds of dollars and still not obtain the player that they are looking for. Another issue with this game mode is that the person who cannot purchase any packs will have less players and worse ones for the most part, than the person was able to sink more money into the game, thus making the game mode more about how much money one can spend rather than who has more skill.

FIFA 21 Legacy Edition is anti-consumer because it takes advantage of the casual players that have a passion for football, those who simply want to play a game that celebrates the sport that they love. It is understandable that they cant deliver the same game on a console with inferior hardware, and it is also makes sense that Ultimate Team is a mode that is synonymous with FIFA and the game wouldn’t be the same without it; but it is unacceptable for a developer to justify charging fifty dollars for a game that has been released twice over with some minor differences, it is hard to believe that they could not add any features that would make the game stand out from the other versions of the game and its even worse that its most popular game mode, Ultimate Team, nickle and dimes the player into upgrading their teams if they want to stay competitive with the ones that have already invested money into the mode. I hope FIFA 21 is the last game with the Legacy Edition moniker, because I want to see EA work under the limitations of an underpowered console and turn it into a version of the game that is worth owning, rather than a lazy attempt at milk an uninformed consumer that just wants to play FIFA with his friends.