All 22 Players on the Pitch Can Be Human Controlled in Online Team
Play
COLOGNE, Germany, Aug 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that EA SPORTSTM
has developed a new feature called Be A Goalkeeper for FIFA Soccer 11 that
will enable fans to experience the thrill of playing as the keeper, and
for the first time in a soccer videogame, will place control of all 22
players on the pitch in human hands. The new feature will be available
for the PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360(R)
videogame and entertainment system when FIFA Soccer 11 is
available in stores September 28 in North America and October 1 in
Europe and Asia.
Chelsea FC and Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech has been signed as
the spokesperson for Be A Goalkeeper and will be featured in
advertising, marketing and promotional campaigns.
Be A Goalkeeper is a completely new way to play--instead of thinking as a
player out in the middle of the pitch, you have to think and react as
the goalkeeper. Experience the thrill of the one on one battle, making
the great save from a free kick, punching balls safely out of danger,
the pressure of the corner, and most importantly, keeping a clean sheet.
Be A Goalkeeper features three levels of accessibility with varying
degrees of AI assistance--assisted, semi-assisted and fully manual. Fans
will be able to compete as the goalie in Career Mode and enjoy a 15-year
career or create themselves as the goalie in Virtual Pro 2.0 to learn
the position, track stats, complete achievements and test themselves
against the best players in the virtual world.
With control of the keeper now in human hands FIFA Soccer 11 will
deliver an authentic replication of soccer online with 11 vs. 11 Online
Team Play that locks people into the role of a single, fixed player the
entire game. Now up to 11 friends on different consoles will be able to
select and take control of their own individual players on the same team
to compete against up to 11 rivals of another team.
"The phenomenal growth of online gaming and the desire of our fans to be
able to play as the goalie was the driving force behind this innovation
for FIFA Soccer 11," said Kaz Makita, Executive Producer, EA
SPORTS FIFA. "Friends can play alongside each other in their pro clubs
with all 11 virtual players on the pitch human controlled. We have
finally replicated football in the virtual world."
Over 750 million online connected games have been played since FIFA
Soccer 10 launched last October and over 350,000 pro clubs have been
created that enable friends to compete alongside each other against
rival clubs. Pro Clubs is one of the most popular online game modes in
FIFA.
FIFA Soccer 11 reinvents player authenticity - on and off
the ball - for every position on the pitch with Personality+, and
introduces new Pro Passing where pass accuracy is determined by a
gamer's ability on the control pad, and player skill, situation and
urgency on the pitch. Plus, experience true freedom in man-to-man
interactions with 360° Fight for Possession that transforms physical
play from just lateral jostling to full 360° collisions.
Visit http://www.facebook.com/easportsfifa
to join the EA SPORTS FIFA Facebook group or visit WWW.FIFA.EASPORTS.COM
for more information about the game. New game modes and innovations will
be revealed later this month. Screenshots are available at http://info.ea.com.
FIFA Soccer 11 will be available for the PlayStation(R)3 computer
entertainment system, Xbox 360(R) videogame and entertainment system,
Wii(TM), PC, PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo DS(TM),
PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) system and mobile. It will be available on
the Wii in North America on Oct. 4. FIFA 11 is developed under
the EA SPORTS brand by EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C. The game has not yet
been rated.
EA SPORTS(TM) is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the
world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive
technology, global videogame competitions and breakthrough digital
experiences. EA SPORTS delivers experiences that ignite the emotions of
sport through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including Madden
NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL(R) hockey, NBA ELITE basketball,
NCAA(R) Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS MMA, Tiger
Woods PGA TOUR(R) golf, and EA SPORTS Active.
For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs,
forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com
to connect, share and compete.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in
1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless
devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA(TM), EA Mobile(TM) and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2010,
EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.7 billion and had 27 titles that sold
more than one million units. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com.
More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can
be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile, Pogo and EA SPORTS Active are trademarks of
Electronic Arts Inc. Official FIFA licensed product ' © The FIFA name
and OLP Logo are copyright or trademark protected by FIFA. All rights
reserved.' Manufactured under license by Electronic Arts Inc. Player
names and likenesses used under license from FIFA, International
Federation of Professional Footballers "(FIFPro)" and national teams.
John Madden, NFL, NHL, NBA, NCAA, Tiger Woods and PGA TOUR are
trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. Microsoft,
Xbox, and Xbox 360 are registered trademarks of the Microsoft group of
companies. "PlayStation" and PSP are registered trademarks of Sony
Computer Entertainment Inc. Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of
Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6399063&lang=en
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
Steve Frost, 604-456-5067
Sr. Publicist
sfrost@ea.com
Jen Riley, 604-456-5081
PR Director
jriley@ea.com
Copyright Business Wire 2010