FIFA on the Nintendo Switch will be referred to as FIFA 20 Legacy Edition and this isn’t good news for fans.
FIFA 20 Legacy Edition will be the third version of the football franchise on the Switch and the name change appears to be EA signalling defeat in its ongoing bid to create an experience on par with PS4, Xbox One and PC versions.
Following the reveal of FIFA 20 during EA Play at E3 2019, EA confirmed the Nintendo Switch version of the game would not be getting the majority of the debuting features coming to the franchise this year.
Related: E3 2019
Speaking to Eurogamer, FIFA 20 executive Aaron McHardy confirmed the disappointing news: “You’re gonna get a fresh new look in Switch, with kits and player lists and all of that.” McHardy continued, “but you’re not going to be getting Volta or any of the big new features”.
Volta is the biggest new addition to FIFA 20 and brings a revamped version of FIFA Street back to the franchise in place of the outgoing The Journey mode.
McHardy continued: “Minor improvements or enhancements may be integrated in select game modes, but there will not be any new innovation or game features”.
FIFA on the Switch has never been on par with Xbox One, PS4 and PC versions – primarily due to EA opting to use a different and less powerful engine than its flagship Frostbite. EA uses the Frostbite engine for all of its top games – sports games and beyond.
Related: Best Nintendo Switch games
The term Legacy Edition does seem to spell danger for hopes of an enhanced version of FIFA on the Switch. The concern comes from the prior uses of the term to describe PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of next-gen FIFA releases. Both internally and externally, the move seems to put the Switch version on par with previous generation versions of FIFA.
Read alongside the news of the Legacy Edition naming convention, McHardy’s comment on the potential for future platform parity makes for a bleak read: “I wouldn’t say it’s the end, necessarily for Switch, we don’t know what the future holds”.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.