With the upcoming FIFA 16, EA Sports will look to build upon the improvements made with recent games in the franchise. FIFA 15 offered up a polished soccer sim, with the title including a wealth of content for gamers after the most up-to-date and realistic soccer experience. The EA Sports game included over 200 scanned player faces, alongside painstakingly-created virtual versions of every stadium from the English Premier League.

As it stands, FIFA 16 has already been able to turn heads through the addition of a new game mode. For the first time in the series' history, women's soccer will be included as a playable option. Although only twelve national teams will be available, including the United States, England, and Brazil, it's nonetheless a welcome addition to the franchise.

Unfortunately, owners of Nintendo consoles looking forward to playing this new game mode may well be out of luck. It looks likely that EA Sports are going to skip releasing their upcoming soccer sim on any Nintendo consoles. As of yet, Electronic Arts has only stated that the game will be available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, and PS3.

This will no doubt be unwanted news for any 3DS and Wii U owners excited about FIFA 16, and marks another, more negative, landmark for the FIFA franchise. FIFA 16 will be the first game in the series to not be released on the Wii since the console's launch. Although FIFA 15 skipped the Wii U altogether, Nintendo's home console predecessor still saw a release, so original Wii owners are sure to be disappointed.

It's also bad news for handheld fans, as FIFA 16 will not be released for either Nintendo's 3DS or the PlayStation Vita. The release information, which was revealed by PocketGamer, ends a tremendous run of handheld versions of the title, as soccer fans have not been without a portable version of the FIFA franchise since 2001's FIFA Football 2002. Since then, every FIFA game has seen a handheld port, whether it be on the Game Boy Advance, DS, PSP, Vita, or 3DS.

This is bound to be disappointing news for Nintendo, and handheld gaming, fans. Wii U owners may be the ones most hard-hit by the FIFA 16 release schedule, as it looks likely that the console will also miss out on a port of racing simulator Project Cars. So far, EA Sports has yet to comment on why FIFA 16 has not been developed for Nintendo consoles or the PS Vita, but the issue may come down to a lack of room for commercial success on the machines. Hopefully, PS Vita and Nintendo fans will have some clarification soon.

FIFA 16 will be released in North America on September 25, and will be available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, and PS3.

Source: PocketGamer