EA SAYS FIFA 23 TO BE "BIGGEST TITLE" EVER, IN FRANCHISE'S FINAL YEAR
Electronic Arts (EA) has claimed FIFA 23 is pushing towards becoming the "biggest title in franchise history," despite being the last version of the game.
EA has developed the FIFA franchise since 1993, but after the two organizations could not agree on a new partnership, FIFA is to create its own game, while EA has committed to a non-FIFA football release too. The company said it would "begin a new era" in July 2023 under the EA Sports FC moniker.
A third-quarter earnings result was announced, showing a four percent increase over the previous best at this stage of the year.
"Year-to-date net bookings from the FIFA franchise have grown four percent," said EA chief executive Andrew Wilson during a conference call. «Unit sales in North America alone are up 50% year on year.»
The game launched in September 2022 and attracted 10.3 million players in its first seven days, compared to 9.1 million for FIFA 22.
EA SPORTS WILL CONTINUE TO EXCLUDE MASON GREENWOOD FROM FIFA 23
EA Sports will not reinstate Mason Greenwood into their FIFA video game series after the charges against the Manchester United forward were dropped.
Greenwood was taken out of FIFA 22 following his arrest in January 2022, and he has never appeared in the latest edition of the game, FIFA 23. The 21-year-old was removed from active squads, Ultimate Team [FUT] packs and the Ultimate Draft in last year’s game, and has been absent from the series ever since.
After over a year of investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service announced on Thursday the charges against Greenwood – which included attempted rape, assault and included controlling and coercive behaviour – have been discontinued. The charges were dropped following the ‘withdrawal of key witnesses’.
Although EA Sports, who publish the FIFA video games, have declined to comment on the situation, it is claimed Greenwood will continue to be excluded from the series for the time being.
It is understood Greenwood will not return to playing or training with the Premier League club while United carry out their own internal investigation.
LIVERPOOL PLAYER RATINGS IN FIFA 23 BRUTALLY SLASHED IN LATEST UPDATE
Jurgen Klopp's team has lost three of their last four league matches, conceding three goals on each occasion. The Reds now sit in tenth position in the PL table, twenty-one points adrift of the league leaders, Arsenal.
Liverpool fans can't catch a break at the moment, with the latest FIFA 23 squad update hitting their beloved club harder than any other. As many as four first-team players have been downgraded in the latest update, including their star man Mohamed Salah.
EA has hit Mo Salah the hardest in the latest squad update, with his overall rating downgraded from 90 to 89 OVR. The Egyptian winger has fallen well below his lofty standards this season, having registered just seven goals and three assists in the league. Salah's FIFA 23 card has been downgraded across the board, including a hit to the 30-year-old's finishing, composure, shot power and positioning.
It seems harsh to downgrade the Liverpool goalkeeper as he has been at fault on very few occasions this season. In fact, without Alisson's incredible 1v1 stops, Liverpool could be in a far worse position in the league. EA has downgraded just one of the Brazilian's in-game stat, Composure 68 → 66.
Like Alisson, fellow Brazil international Fabinho has only had one in-game attribute altered this time around. However, it's a pretty significant change to a key FIFA 23 stat. EA has slashed Fabinho's acceleration by six, yes SIX points. The 29-year-old defensive midfielder does seem to have lost a yard of pace since returning from injury, but a minus-six seems a little dramatic.
Liverpool's £35 million January singing Cody Gakpo has failed to hit the ground running at Anfield since arriving from PSV. The 23-year-old is still yet to score in a Reds shirt and has looked less than half the player we saw for the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup. The Dutch winger has looked somewhat clunky on the ball so far for Liverpool, leading to a downgrade in agility.
NEW NBA 2K23 CHALLENGE HONORS LEBRON JAMES ALL-TIME SCORING RECORD
NBA 2K23 is capitalizing on LeBron James recently claiming the NBA's all-time scoring record by offering a challenge and special reward.
It was a record many believed might never be beaten. When NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he left behind the staggering record of 38,387 points scored in his NBA career. He'd long passed the previous record, set by Wilt Chamberlain, of 31,419 points. And his record would last from 1989 until February 7, 2023, when LeBron James would pass Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record and place his own name at the top of the list.
The MyTeam challenge is relatively straightforward. It tasks NBA 2K23 players with defeating four of LeBron James' "iconic" teams, plus preventing him personally from averaging 27 points per game. Those who manage to accomplish the challenge will receive an HOF Option Pack and can pick 10 from 15. Together, it's nothing ridiculous, but it's still something special for the occasion and a smart way to get NBA 2K23 players back in-game and earning packs.
The LeBron James scoring record challenge is unfortunately only available for a limited time. It was released on Tuesday and limited to just 48 hours, meaning NBA 2K23 players have until later tonight to finish the challenge and claim its reward.
NBA 2K23 DUNKING IS STILL BROKEN AFTER HOTFIX UPDATE
Though a recent patch supposedly fixed the issue, players still believe NBA 2K23’s dunking mechanics are broken.
Users initially took note of these troubles following the advent of NBA 2K23’s Season 4 content. Players with 99 dunk ratings had difficulty getting the ball to go in, even when a defense’s best efforts proved lackluster.
Developer Visual Concepts rolled out a hotfix in late January to address the issue. The patch in question specifically targeted paint defense and dunking complaints.
Though the update launched several days ago, some have yet to identify what exactly the patch fixed.
Reddit user SuperMo18 isn’t convinced the dunking mechanics were properly balanced in the latest NBA 2K update. The Redditor shared a video clip of their player with a 99 dunk missing a poorly contested move at the basket. “This should be ‘wide open’ and easy points,” they wrote.
In a subsequent post, SuperMo18 said dunking’s improved, but weird instances like those below still occur at “an absurd level.”
Another NBA 2K23 player claimed they “can’t even tell [developers] fixed it,” adding that the game’s been a mess since the end of Season 3. “Yeah, the hotfix did nothing for me,” said another Redditor.
Someone else argued that one problem is the game’s penchant for rewarding “bad defense on the interior and perimeter.”
It would seem NBA 2K23’s dunking mechanics require yet another patch. At the very least, the pace at which the first hotfix was released suggests players may not have to wait too long for a subsequent update.
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