Skip to main content

‘Fifa 17’s’ Journey story mode revealed at E3

Since the Fifa video game series first met its audience in 1993, it has gone through a great number of changes. Be it moving into the next dimension, or expanding the branches of soccer it included (such as managing), it always kept on evolving. Yes, sometimes in an embarrassingly slow manner. But it has always kept the narrative element out of the game. It has always been about the simple progress from one match to the next, playing against your friends or a (maybe) decent computer opponent. At Electronic Arts’ presentation at E3 2016, the company revealed Fifa 17, and it has brought narrative into the field.

Meet Alex Hunter. This is the protagonist of Fifa’s freshest addition and its “Journey” story campaign, a work in progress from EA Vancouver. This is the biggest change to the Fifa franchise in a long time, unless we count things like dynamic physics, improved animations, and new control schemes. But that’s not to say the developer has had time to dawdle, Aaron McHardy who’s the Producer of Fifa 17, said they had put efforts into transforming how the game works not just off court, but on court as well. “We’ve rewritten set pieces to give you creative control over every dead ball, completely overhauled physical play, we’ve built a new intelligence systems so our players are smarter and more active off the ball, and we’ve given you new ways to create chances and finish in front of the goal.”

McHardy continued to mention the decision to switch switch from their Ignite engine “You’ll live your premier league story through the player we just met, Alex Hunter, that is the power of Frostbite, Fifa 17‘s brand new engine. You’ll live in real football worlds, and you’ll meet characters full of depth and emotion.” We’re not sure we’d still call Frostbite a brand new engine (the latest version was first released in 2013), but we’ll let that go for now. It’s unclear how the narrative will mix in with the rest of the game, and whether or not you’ll be able to finish it while playing online matches is a bit dubious. With this kind of plot, it might be hard to pull off.

The presentation took special pride in its first ever inclusion of real managers in the game. We doubt they’ll be doing much voice acting on behalf of Journey, though. Either way, four big ones were named to be included for now: José Mourinho, who aside from his current time with Manchester United, also has been the manager of internationally renowned teams like Real Madrid and Chelsea; Jürgen Klopp, who’s in the process of managing Liverpool; Arsène Wenger, who emphasizes aggressive play with great success together with Arsenal; and Pep Guardiola, the manager of Bayern Munich, who became the world’s youngest manager to win the Champions League.

Fifa 17 is set for release on September 27 year for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Editors' Recommendations

Dan Isacsson
Being a gamer since the age of three, Dan took an interest in mobile gaming back in 2009. Since then he's been digging ever…
Here’s what E3 2023 could look like without Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft
Playstation character wall at E3 2018

Let's start with the good news: E3 2023 will be held in its in-person format once again after three long years of digital events necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this time with ReedPop at the helm. The bad news is that Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo -- gaming's "Big 3" -- may not show up at the industry’s biggest convention this summer.

This is according to a report from IGN citing multiple sources, who claimed the companies won’t be a part of the show or make appearances on the floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center in any way. Their absence from this year’s E3, especially Nintendo’s, may come as a shock to the gaming community, but it's not such a surprise when looking at the past few iterations of E3. Even before the pandemic locked everyone down in 2020, Sony and Xbox had been hosting their own E3-style livestreams, so it was more likely they would do it again this year anyway. Nintendo, on the other hand, managed to show off its upcoming games via Nintendo Direct streams and at its booth, console kiosks and all.

Read more
Summer Game Fest returns just before E3 2023 next June
The official artwork confirming Summer Game Fest's return on June 8, 2023.

Geoff Keighley has confirmed when Summer Game Fest will return in June 2023. It will begin with a live kickoff show on June 8, 2023, placing Keighley's game announcement alternative less than a week before E3's grand (intended) 2023 return.
Unlike past years, Summer Game Fest Live Kickoff 2023 will feature a live audience, like Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards. It will take place in the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park, with tickets going on sale in early 2023. It will still be livestreamed across platforms like YouTube and Twitch, though. It's currently unknown who's participating, how long Summer Game Fest will run afterward, or if it will feature a Summer Game Fest Play Days-like element for fans. Still, Keighley says all of that info will be revealed ahead of the event next year, teasing what people can expect. 
"In keeping with tradition, we'll have tons of exciting announcements from the developers that are pushing the games industry forward, and will once again highlight other publisher digital events, demos, and more surprises to be announced in the coming months," Keighley says in a press release. 
That June 8 start date, and the other Summer Game Fest events likely to follow, put Keighley's show just ahead of E3 2023. The ESA and ReedPop plan to bring E3 back between June 13 and June 16, 2023. With five days of lead time on E3, Summer Game Fest can coexist with the long-running gaming conference and encompass the plethora of publisher showcases that tend to precede E3.
Geoff Keighley made it clear that he wants Summer Game Fest and E3 to coexist for a while. "We've had extensive conversations with ReedPop about E3," he said in an interview with Epic Games Store. "I think it'll kind of fit together and flow kind of from what we're doing into what they're doing and stuff. E3, to me, is this kind of master brand that represents gaming news in June."
With the start date of Summer Game Fest confirmed, the coexistence of these two summer gaming events is a reality. Summer Game Fest returns on June 8, 2023.

Read more
E3 2023 returns in June with separate business and consumer days
The logo for E3 2023.

E3 2023 will return as an in-person event from June 13 to June 16, 2023, as announced by ReedPop today.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) already revealed that E3 will return in 2023, but now we know exactly when the event will take place, along with several other key details. E3 will once again take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center after a four-year hiatus, but will incorporate separate days for industry professionals and general consumers.

Read more