FIFA 18 developer EA SPORTS has for a long time employed thousands of data collectors who painstakingly analyse and create databases teeming with intricate player statistics.
But games such as FIFA are no longer just mirroring real life – they’re actually starting to influence the way professional footballers play the game.
“We record and study how the players move on the pitch the precision of their passing how they take a penalty their headers and even the physics of the ball,” EA SPORTS producer Gilliard Lopes Dos Santos told FIFA.com.
But now something interesting is happening when it comes to the relationship between the video game and the sport.
“We’re living in an age when the real and virtual influence each other,” said Lopes Dos Santos.
“Bizarrely we often see that footballers learn things from video games. It’s a permanent two-way process.”
Cristiano Ronaldo. Antoine Griezmann Dele Alli Roberto Carlos and recently Yannick Bolasie are the only players who can pull it off.
However EA Sports has said that if a player pulls it off in real life they’ll be rewarded with the skill in the game.
As Germany defender Mats Hummels explained to FIFA.com: “Obviously a professional footballer can use his own experience to manage certain situations in the game. Conversely some people maybe use what they learn in FIFA when they find themselves on a pitch.”
It’s not the first time in-game player behaviour has inspired action in real life.
This certainly came in handy for Parma goalkeeper Marco Amelia who in 2008 saved a penalty from Ronaldinho before proclaiming: “It was just like playing against him on PlayStation. He had the same run-up. It was very strange.”
Arsenal youngster Alex Iwobi revealed to the New York Times that FIFA helped him improve parts of his game.
The winger was particularly fond of Aiden McGeady who despite being far from a world-class player in real life was a formidable force on FIFA.
“I love playing PlayStation online with people who don’t know who I am,” Messi told The Sun.
How ratings affect player behaviour
As the gap between the real and the virtual closes bonds between players and their digital representations become tighter.
Stats are no longer just random numbers but are now calculated with an almost scientific-like methodology.
In-game avatars now provide an accurate and objective view on how players compare across all attributes – from speed and strength to free-kick accuracy passing and dribbling ability.
Consequently professional footballers care more now about their FIFA rating than ever before.
So much so that The New York Times reports some agents have even called up EA to beg for upgrades for their players’ ratings.
Retired French midfielder Edouard Cisse revealed on FIFA.com: “I even know of players who’ve changed their own stats in the game but if a team-mate finds out… it’s pretty embarrassing!”
When FIFA 17 arrived last year Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi publicly expressed his disappointment to EA after receiving what he thought was an uncharitable passing rating. He tweeted: “59 passing… so weak”.
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