FIFA 22’s PC version will not feature next-gen improvements seen on PS5 and Xbox Series X, including its new animation tech. The PC edition of FIFA 22 will instead be comparable to the last-gen version, to the dismay of its small but vocal core of fans.
It will follow in the footsteps of FIFA 21, which likewise reserved its various next-gen upgrades for console. According to EA, this is done to ensure that players with less powerful PC rigs can still run the game well.
“When we looked at what generation to put the PC game on, we looked at our fans and what capabilities they had with the hardware they have,” executive producer Aaron McHardy told Eurogamer in late 2020. “And we have that information to understand what the power of the PCs out there in the world are. And when we looked at that, in order to run the [next-generation version of FIFA], our min spec would have been at a spot that would have left a lot of people out in the cold not being able to play the game.”
The PC version of FIFA has historically had a smaller fanbase than the console versions, as evidenced by its less active transfer market in FIFA Ultimate Team. That doesn’t figure to change with FIFA 22 as the console versions speed ahead with various updates to the animation engine and the PC version lags ahead.
PS4 and Xbox One owners hoping for quick and easy access to the next-gen version of FIFA 22 will similarly be out of luck. While the Dual Entitlement system offering an upgrade to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S version of the game will remain in place, it will only be available via FIFA 22’s expensive Ultimate Edition. That’s a total pricetag of $99.99 USD/£89.99.
FIFA 22’s HyperMotion feature is being touted as a new system that captures 11 vs 11 match play, combined with EA’s algorithmic AI, letting the game create “new animations in real-time to create organic football movement across a variety of interactions on the pitch.”
You can check out everything else we know about FIFA 22 here. FIFA 22 is due out on October 1, 2021 on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and on PC via Steam, Origin, and Google Stadia. Nintendo Switch owners will get the FIFA 22 Legacy Edition.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/goaltender for IGN.
