Hey FIFA fans,

It’s been a few months since we last updated the community on our team’s efforts focused on gameplay responsiveness.

With the release of the latest title update, available now on PC and coming soon for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, we wanted to provide some information around our efforts over the past few months, and to touch on the changes present in this title update.

These changes, that we believe will improve gameplay responsiveness for some players, have been driven by the data and feedback we have been receiving from players with our specialized telemetry tool (detailed here) enabled, which we have continued to roll out to a larger pool of players.

Changes Made Since Our Last Update

Since the last update, our team has made changes to the networking infrastructure that is used in the following modes on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC:

• FUT Champions
• FUT Division Rivals
• FUT Online Draft
• FIFA Pro Clubs
• FIFA Co-Op Seasons

Here is a brief summary of some of the changes that have been made since the last update:

• Additional network and data center configuration changes that have improved efficiency and capacity, with a primary focus on our European server locations.
• Multiple individual hardware changes due to specific hardware issues in various server locations around the world.

Changes In Title Update #15

In an effort to measure the impact that these changes have on gameplay responsiveness, we have included them on this title update, but only for the following modes:

• FUT Champions
• FUT Division Rivals

These changes are technical in nature, but here is a high level summary of the changes and why we believe they will improve gameplay responsiveness for some players:

The first change is focused on reducing the time that it takes for the game to retry sending gameplay information to the network when the initial attempt to send the information was unsuccessful. This is intended to reduce the likelihood of a delay in those inputs taking action in the game in situations where gameplay information was intermittently failing to be sent due to potential network issues.

The second change is focused on reducing the amount of maximum buffer between when gameplay information is received by the game and when it is visually rendered on the screen. Previously the maximum buffer that was in place in these modes was slightly longer than it is for an offline match in FIFA, to ensure that there is a visual smoothness to gameplay despite the less predictable delivery times in an online match, due to network conditions that can vary through a match, than would be present in an offline match. In this title update, we have reduced this maximum buffer in the aforementioned modes to match the max buffer that is present in an offline match.

Once this title update is live for all platforms, we will begin the process of evaluating how these changes impact the data we are gathering from the specialized telemetry tool. We do have the ability to disable these changes should it be deemed that they are having a negative impact, which we can do without a title update. In the instance where that is required, we will update the community.

Looking Forward

Our efforts are by no means ending in this area, and our investigations and work on gameplay responsiveness will continue, with a focus both on continued efforts in FIFA 19, along with ensuring that we are carrying forward what we have been investigating and working on in FIFA 19 when FIFA 20 launches later this year.

As we had previously noted, it’s important to understand that there are many things that go into a player's connection, and ultimately the gameplay responsiveness that they experience in a match, based on this, each update will not enact change for every player. We continue to work towards the goal of the combined impact of these changes improving the experience for all players in the FIFA community.

We wanted to take a minute to thank those players that have been working with us through the specialized telemetry tool. The information that we have been receiving from your matches and survey responses has been very meaningful to our investigations. With the release of this title update, your continued efforts in providing survey responses will be key in understanding how much of an impact these changes are having in your matches, so please keep it up. Once again, your help has been greatly appreciated.

Thanks as well to the community as a whole for your continued feedback in this area, and across the entire game. Your support is always appreciated.

Thanks,
The FIFA Dev Team


For more deep dives on FIFA 19 from members of the game team, check out the Pitch Notes Page. 

FIFA 19 is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC .

Stay in the conversation on all things FIFA by liking us on Facebook , following us on Twitter and Instagram , and participating in the official FIFA Forums . Sign-up to receive emails about EA SPORTS FIFA and EA products, news, events, and promotions.