''EA Sports FC Online'' (formerly known as ''FIFA Online 4'') is a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

massively multiplayer online A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

game developed by EA Spearhead and published by

Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. is a global video game publisher, listed in Japan, that specializes in online Virtual World games for PCs, consoles and mobile. Nexon is one of the world’s ten largest interactive game companies based on market capitalization a ...

. It was announced on 2 November 2017, and released on 17 May 2018 in South Korea. It was then released in China on 11 June 2018, in Thailand on 12 June 2018, and in Vietnam on 14 June 2018.

Development

In December 2017, the first closed beta test was launched, and plenty have been held. In

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, it was released into

open beta A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

on 17 May 2018. In Vietnam closed beta test started on 22 March 2018

FIFA Online 4 M

In July 2018, ''FIFA Online 4 M'' was released in Korea for iOS and Android. It is a mobile version and sequel to ''FIFA Online 3 M''. It was later released in November 2018 in Vietnam and Thailand.

FIFA license

With the announcement that FIFA would no longer be licensing its name and brand to EA, Nexon assured fans that the end of the partnership would not affect the service of the game on both PC and mobile. On 22 November 2022, FIFA Online 4 was changed to EA Sports FC Online,

Gameplay

The game engine is not part of the

Frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the han ...

engine series because of hardware requirements. ''EA Sports FC Online'' has animations and other components from ''

FIFA 18 ''FIFA 18'' is a football simulation video game developed and published by Electronic Arts and released worldwide on 29 September 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It is the 25th ...

''. The gameplay and AI engine are from ''

FIFA 17 ''FIFA 17'' is a football simulation video game developed and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released in September 2016 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. This is the fir ...

''. The game allows players to play regular matches with 2v2 or 3v3 matches like the main series as well as the Ultimate Team feature seen in other games. The game allows the ability to buy players from a marketplace and help build their stats by purchasing items. FC Online have several updates of game modes for the next seasons such as House Rules,

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

from

FIFA 19 ''FIFA 19'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and released by Electronic Arts on 28 September 2018 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows. It is the 26th installm ...

and VOLTA Live, which was the online version of VOLTA Football from

FIFA 20 ''FIFA 20'' is a football simulation video game published by Electronic Arts as part of the ''FIFA'' series. It is the 27th installment in the series and was released on 27 September 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nint ...

Features

World Cup Modes

On 24 May 2018, the "World Cup Mode" was announced to be released on 31 May 2018. Two new game modes were introduced, Vs Com FIFA World Cup and Vs User 16 Tournaments. The group stage mode is against computer, while the knockout stage mode are against other players. This "World Cup Mode" was returned on 2022 following

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Reception

As of 2022, ''FIFA Online 4'' is the fifth-most popular

esport Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

in South Korea.

References

External links

Nexon EA Sports FC Online Official WebsiteTencent EA Sports FC Online China Official WebsiteGarena EA Sports FC Online Vietnam Official WebsiteGarena EA Sports FC Online Thailand Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:EA Sports FC Online 2018 video games Android (operating system) games IOS games Online 4 FIFA Online EA Sports games Massively multiplayer online games Video games developed in South Korea Windows games Frostbite (game engine) games Garena games