There are few properties in the gaming world that command the attention of the mainstream press quite like Madden and FIFA do.

Representatives of their respective sports, these video game series rake in hundreds of millions of dollars every year for Electronic Arts and the leagues they represent. Coming out on an annual basis, they’re reliable cash cows and loci of innovation for the broader sports gaming niche. Often used as the basis for eSports competitions, the amount of time and development that goes into making a FIFA title boggles the mind.

That’s why it is so impressive when the teams manage to not only outdo themselves year after year but also include some of the fanbase’s most-requested features. When it comes to FIFA 19, one of the things that people were clamoring for was a career mode and, in a spot of really good news for FIFA fanatics, EA announced that they would be including it among other new features to debut in FIFA 19.

With the release of the next FIFA game mere months away, gamers were beginning to grow anxious as to what exactly EA would unleash in a World Cup year. In addition to a new, improved, better-than-ever career mode, FIFA 19 will also have the Champions League, a big deal for fans of that circuit.

FIFA 19 Creative Director Matthew Prior said that the emphasis for the career mode will be on authenticity. What this usually means in terms of gameplay is extra-fine attention to detail and more robust simulation features.

One new feature coming to FIFA 19 that has many people speculating is the addition of the press or media. Not only will your manager have to interact with them and hold press conferences, but how your manager does so can be customized by you the player. Players of FIFA in the past have speculated that the Manager position will be one that is outfitted via a locker system like players are in the game but nothing specific about the manager position is out there as of yet. Given the often contentious nature of many press conferences, it should be interesting to see how EA implements this in a game form.

Overall, with the addition of new leagues and improve simulation modes, FIFA 19 looks like it will place a renewed emphasis on simulation and time-sink game modes in a nod to players that really enjoy marathon sessions of FIFA. Though often the bread-and-butter of titles like racing games, strict adherence or over emphasis on simulation aspects can sometimes hold back a sports title, particularly when it is something as hugely popular as football. FIFA’s magic has always rested in the series’ ability to balance simulation with pick-up-and-play gaming.

FIFA 19 should largely continue this balance and, with an even more robust simulation offering on the way, we can only hope that the one-on-one pick up game modes are as good as they always were. As September is right around the corner, we don’t have long to wait.

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