EA has announced that it will not be releasing a demo for FIFA 21 ahead of its October 9 release date. While the latest entry in the long-running soccer simulation series will still be released early to EA PLAY members in the form of a 10-hour trial, there has been no news on the next-gen versions of the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S beyond the option to freely upgrade if a current-gen version is purchased.
Nearly every FIFA game has had a demo in the past, so this news comes a shock. EA cited the need to deliver "the best full game experience for current and next-gen consoles" as the reason behind this decision.
With the October 9 release date being only a matter of weeks away, it remains to be seen whether or not EA can polish FIFA 21 to an acceptable standard. It is interesting to see that EA has included current-gen consoles as part of this mandate, considering leaked gameplay footage depicting a game not too dissimilar from FIFA 20.
Though it can be expected that the current-gen version will be extremely similar to previous iterations, there is a baseline expectation amongst fans and critics alike that the power of next-gen consoles should allow for a considerable difference to be seen. From the perspective of next-gen consoles, the move of not releasing a demo makes sense as it will give EA the time to optimize the game for these new systems.
There have been many complaints made by the vocal FIFA community regarding the direction the series is heading. From the stagnation of Career Mode to the pay-to-win nature of Ultimate Team, there have been many glaring issues that increase with each annual release. While EA has announced changes to address these points regarding Career Mode, gameplay is still a cause for concern among some fans. Though EA has outlined their plans to deliver the best possible game experience for both current and next-gen consoles, whether or not they make good on their promise will only be able to be seen come October 9 and whenever the next-gen versions are released.
EA's decision to focus on next-gen systems aligns with that of its competitor Konami, who develop the Pro Evolution Soccer series. The latter has made the decision to not release a new game for the 2021-22 season due to the transition from Fox Engine to Unreal Engine 5. PES 2021 Season Update came in the form of an update to player data and club rosters as opposed to being a new game entirely.
FIFA 21 releases on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on October 9, with support for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S planned.