Earlier this week, Electronic Arts revealed its upcoming football title, FIFA 23. In addition to the reveal, loads of news about the game started surfacing. One bit of information, in particular, has gotten some traction from FIFA fans on Twitter. While FIFA 23 will feature cross-play, the feature will not be available on the series’ long-running Pro Clubs mode.
Since this news broke, fans of the mode have taken their frustration to Twitter, demanding an answer from Electronic Arts. I reached out to one particular page called VFL, which started the popular hashtag #SaveProClubs, and chatted with the admin, Aaron Baker.
Dear @EASPORTSFIFA – We as a community demand answers.
They saw #FixProClubs when friendlies were broke, and they reacted. It's now time to be aggressive on social media again. They will notice us.#SaveProClubs pic.twitter.com/QvfeZM8Wed
— VFL (@TheVFL_) July 20, 2022
Pro Club FIFA 23 fans demand answers
Baker is the post creator that kicked off the campaign #SaveProClubs. During my conversation with Baker, he clarified that he understands EA can’t produce five game-breaking features for one mode yearly. However, Baker wants communication between EA and the FIFA community and why Pro Clubs have been excluded from the cross-play feature in FIFA 23.
“For now, the aim of the campaign from me is to achieve more communication on a regular basis from the company in regards to the mode, and from that, clear information about why cross-play was not included,” Baker said.
I sympathize with Baker and his passion for Pro Clubs. It’s a mode, along with Career Mode, that Electronic Arts neglects every year. I play Pro Clubs with my friends all the time, and every year I’m frustrated by the lack of progression the mode has made in recent years.
“The beauty of the campaign, like any, is that it’s subjective to the eye. I can want the end-goal to be clarity and cross-play, and somebody else could want the end-goal to be a substitute system, a re-join feature, [and more],” Baker said.
Cross-play would allow friends to play on Pro Clubs together regardless of what console they have. So you can understand why the community is frustrated with Electronic Arts. Pro Clubs and Career Mode get less attention because Electronic Arts focus more resources and time on its money-making FIFA Ultimate Team. FUT has its fair share of controversy with European lawmakers due to the feature’s gambling nature. Yet EA fight’s so hard to keep Ultimate Team fresh, fun, and expensive.
One Goal
Baker made it clear to me that the #SaveProClubs campaign was created to provoke a response from the American publisher about the absence of cross-play in Pro Clubs. If you would like to help, retweet the post at the top and let your opinions be known. I did this article for the same reason Baker made that post. I wanted to bring awareness to the campaign and help get a response for Electronic Arts.
#SaveProClubs
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