Playtesting EA SPORTS FC 24!

Playtesting EA SPORTS™ FC 24

Here at Electronic Arts Playtesting, we give you, the player, a glimpse into the development process, where your feedback provides us with insight on how we can make our games with a Player First mindset. In this article, we take a look into the role that Playtesting had in a huge year for the newest chapter of The World’s Game, which dropped in September!

To learn more, we spoke to Liliia Mandrino, Experience Design Director for the EA SPORTS FC team, and Lucas Rizoli, Senior User Experience Researcher at Electronic Arts Playtesting.

Hey Liliia and Lucas. Congrats on the launch of EA SPORTS FC 24! What a huge year it’s been for the franchise. 

What was the importance of Playtesting in the development process of EA SPORTS FC 24?

LM: Playtesting serves as a vital part of our process, which we continually use to get useful insights. It gives us a unique opportunity to immerse players in scenarios that closely mimic real-life experiences. Through Playtesting, we’re building connections with our community and getting insights on how our games should be made. Not only that, Playtests allow us to observe patterns over time and uncover opportunities to improve the game.

What’s the relationship like between the EA SPORTS FC and Playtesting teams?

LM: Our Playtesting community is one of the most engaged and invested in the industry. The contributions and feedback from Playtesters are invaluable, and we consistently strive to consider their insights in our development process.

LR: Constructive and collaborative, with the same goal in mind: a better game and experience for our players. The development teams are eager to see how their designs fare and to learn more about what works for players. The research team is eager to learn more, support the efforts of designers, and act as an advocate for the players.

With so many modes and features, there’s a lot of content to get through! How often were you running Playtests for EA SPORTS FC 24?

LR: Very often! There are multiple researchers, project managers, and technical teams working to run weekly Playtests. It’s a lot, but then again, there’s never a lack for things to study: FC is a big game with big audiences!

What’s your favorite improvement from last year’s game? 

LM: The long awaited addition of Women in Ultimate Team has been one of the highlights for me. There’s also been incredible work done bringing PlayStyles and the reimagined Play Modes Menu into FC 24. I’m also really excited about the new navigation system with Smart Starts and non-linear jumping.

Do you have a specific example of how Playtester feedback changed something in EA SPORTS FC 24? 

LR: All the feedback and observations help, even if indirectly, even sometimes across years. A recent example are the major changes to the menus and navigation in FC 24 (tabs, Switcher, mode menus) that were thoroughly studied and fine-tuned. The shape they have now in the game came from multiple iterations of design, study, re-design, study, etc. over a year. We also used results from Playtests carried out in previous years, as well as findings from other research studies going on in parallel with Ultimate Team, Career Mode, and other development teams.

Were there any stand out moments from the Playtests that jump to mind?

LM: I’m very proud of the work done bringing the new navigation system into FC 24. One unique part of this new system is the Switcher Menu. This smart feature gives players quick access to key destinations from anywhere. Players can finally jump from one place, such as reviewing Objectives in Ultimate Team, into an entirely different section where they can act on the objective, all in a single press. This means less time spent in menus and more time playing. 

The new navigation is a change that we all really believe in. We were also aware that players who have played the game for many years had developed some muscle memory. To make sure our players could easily learn the new nav system and work out any possible usability kinks, we partnered with user research and in combination with Playtesting, we left no room for mistakes. I remember the moment when we continued to get positive feedback from Playtesters and it felt like the hard work paid off. 

LR: It feels good to watch Playtesters use the designs so well and effortlessly that they almost take them for granted. Seeing them play the game with confidence and intention because the design teams did such good work and knowing we were able to help them identify potential problems through our Playtests is really rewarding.

Football (soccer) is massively popular around the world and always growing - were you able to Playtest in other locations or just in Vancouver where a lot of the team is based? 

LR: We did - and do! We recognize that football is world-wide, but that there’s also different attitudes and fandoms across the globe. While a lot of the developers are in Vancouver, the FC User Research team is international, spanning Canada, the US, and the UK. We’ve run studies across the world in EA facilities, as well as some remotely over the internet. 

EA SPORTS FC 24 is just one of the many titles that you, the players, have influenced! Stay tuned for many more examples of how you help us to Inspire the Future of Play. Massive thank you to all our amazing Playtesters!

- The Electronic Arts Playtesting team