With the UEFA Champions League now being fully licensed to appear in FIFA 19, players can vie for one of the most respected trophies in the world. The massively popular FIFA Ultimate Team mode, which is a massive revenue generator for Electronic Arts, will also receive content updates based on the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Players should likely expect Champions League variants of players to make an appearance on the card marketplace, and more form updates to follow in between the updates from domestic leagues.
Electronic Arts hasn’t delved into what technical or gameplay-based improves will be forthcoming in September’s iteration of the franchise, but more details are expected to start pouring out now that the title’s official reveal has taken place.
Players can take a look at the official FIFA 19 trailer below, with a soundtrack provided by Hans Zimmer himself:
The Alex Hunter storyline in The Journey - which made its debut in FIFA 17 - will also reportedly have its finale in the upcoming edition of FIFA. Fans who have followed Alex along have seem him play everywhere from The Premier League to Major League Soccer after a contract debacle with Real Madrid, with this year’s closing iteration of the story mode culminating in Hunter’s struggle to win the UEFA Champions League itself. Given that the branded tournament has its own game mode in FIFA 19, it’s a logical closure to his storyline - though a few fans would have probably liked to see a World Cup tie-in from the latest update. For that, fans will have to rely on Marcus Rashford, who is often quoted as being a direct inspiration to Alex Hunter himself.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson once speculated that sports series like FIFA and Madden may eventually switch to subscription-based platforms, but for the time being it looks like annual releases are still the go-to format. It’s unclear exactly what improvements FIFA 19 will make in terms of general gameplay, with only branded announcements being presented so far.
FIFA 19 will release on September 28, 2018 for PC, PlayStation 4, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One later this year.
