FIFA 18 for Switch is missing a major online feature — who’s to blame?
FIFA 18 is finally available today, but not all versions of the game have been created equal.
Among other things, the Nintendo Switch version of the game arrives missing the ability for friends to play each other online. That means the only online play is conducted via random match-ups.
However, before you go writing strongly worded emails to Electronic Arts, this omission isn’t exactly the company’s fault.
As Eurogamer points out, Nintendo negated to develop a built-in invite or party system for the console. That means it’d be up to EA to develop a bespoke solution to enable FIFA players to find each other online.
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It’s not like it can’t be done. For its own in-house games Nintendo has found away around the Switch’s limitations. For example, Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon 2 have methods for Switch friends to challenge other on in the online realm.
Perhaps this omission could be solved with a software patch at a later date? We can only hope.
Will there be a FIFA 19 for Switch?
This is EA’s first FIFA for Nintendo consoles since the old Wii and the firm has said future additions will depend on the success of the Switch edition.
In August, EA Worldwide Studio’s executive vice president Patrick Söderlund said: “We have to look at it from a resource standpoint and, at some point, the numbers become a factor. So for us it’s about supporting the platform, building technology for the platform, testing it out with big things like FIFA – and maybe a couple of others, we’ll see – and if they go well, I see no reason why we shouldn’t have as much of our portfolio on that platform as possible. I hope we get there, that would be my personal ambition.”
Early impressions appear to be positive, despite a number of limitations and missing features.
The story mode called The Journey is absent, while the title also runs on an older game engine than the Frostbite engine that powers the PS4 and Xbox One versions.
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