Over the last couple of years, new football games have been popping up everywhere. Whether we’ve known about them for a while or just heard about their existence, new football titles are upon us. Over the years, fans have been wanting something new to play as people got tired of the lack of changes to FIFA and the predatory nature of its Ultimate Team. If you are a sports gamer looking for a new football experience, this list is for you. Here are five upcoming football games in 2023.
eFootball 2024
While we didn’t do a full review of the eFootball 2023 update here on Sports Gamers Online, the 2024 update should give the game the lift it needs.
However, in our review of eFootball when it was released in 2021, we didn’t like the game due to its graphical fidelity, lack of game modes, and overall quality. With a new 2024 update coming soon, we hope that fans can get a taste of the old PES days. eFootball 2024 will be released later this year.
GOALS
We’ve recently discussed GOALS here on Sports Gamers Online. Last month, the developers secured a massive amount of funds led by Reddit owner Alexis Ohanian. GOALS is shaping to be more of an arcade-ish style football game with more Fortnite-looking graphics.
The game will feature 11v11 matches with versus and co-op. In addition, the team is adding a 5v5 mode where players are user-controlled, similar to FIFA‘s Volta Football. The upcoming football title will be available for PC, consoles, and support cross-play at launch. GOALS is slated to be released sometime this year.
UFL
UFL is shaping up to be the most likely candidate to go head-to-head with EA Sports FC. While the game is more focused on an online Ultimate Team-like formula as its core game mode, developer Strikerz Inc aims to do things differently. How? Making the UFL fair-to-play, which means players won’t be subjected to the pay-to-win mechanics that exist in FIFA.
Now, we have seen a full unedited match of UFL‘s gameplay, and it reminds me of earlier FIFA games in the way that it plays. If Strikerz Inc can tighten up gameplay and expand the game into offline modes like a manager or player career, I can see this game doing well and finding its audience.
UFL is slated to be released in late 2023.
Football Manager 24
You might have heard me talk about Football Manager before on the SGO Press Pass with Mike Knoxxx. I love this game series. While I didn’t get around to reviewing FM23, I gave last year’s game, FM22, a 9 out of 10.
If you don’t know what this game is, it’s a football simulator where you play as the active manager at the club of your choosing. You can control everything on the pitch, from line-ups to tactics and substitutions. But trust me when I say it goes deeper than just that. In addition, you can control everything off the pitch also, like recruitment, transfers, whos on your coaching staff, and training drills.
I think if you’re a football nerd and want a more realistic experience, then the Football Manager series is perfect for you. I expect developer Sports Interactive to add more in-depth analysis features to FM24, which will make the game more in-depth than ever before.
FM24 will be out later this year.
EA Sports FC
Here is the big one, after 30 years, Electronic Arts and FIFA (the football governing body) have gone their separate ways, and now we have the birth of a new football franchise, EA Sports FC.
While we don’t know loads about the game, many rumors have circled EA’s newest football series, such as an online career and a female FUT mode. I can’t confirm if these are true, but this game will be one of the biggest sports releases of this year.
EA Sports FC will continue FIFA‘s legacy in spirit, but fans hope Electronic Arts has better plans for the series’ future. There’s no hiding the fact that some popular modes in the series have been neglected or treated to subpar updates over the years, and many fans are hoping that this is the change EA needs.
EA Sports FC doesn’t have a release date yet, but we will know more about the game this July.
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