The arrest of seven high-ranking FIFA officials continues to shine light on the organization’s long history of alleged corruption, but news from the FIFA video-game front seems to be more promising. EA Sports, which produces the FIFA games every year, announced Thursday that FIFA 16 will include female soccer players for the first time.
Women's National Teams are #INTHEGAME #FIFA16! https://t.co/WIBB9Z7hc3 More: http://t.co/9yKSz4tRtK
— EA SPORTS FC (@EASPORTSFC) May 28, 2015
FIFA 16 will feature 12 Women’s National Teams, including the USA, England, Sweden, France, Brazil, Canada, Italy, and China. The developers even scanned and digitized some of the best female soccer players in the world, replicating their likenesses in stunning detail down to their tattoos.
FIFA 16 won’t be released until September, but with the Women’s World Cup starting soon, interest in soccer is likely to rise again among American audiences who normally don’t pay attention to it.
The women involved in the game are thrilled about the new development, to say the least. Although the FIFA games have been coming out since the ’90s, this is be the first time women have been included.
Finally, WE are IN THE GAME!🙌🏽 #easportsfifa https://t.co/XrWPjvULZA
— Kosovare Asllani (@KosovareAsllani) May 28, 2015
Finally it happened! @EASPORTSFIFA include me and my @england teammates in the new #FIFA16 Can't Wait! ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/0CWtS3oxfc
— Steph Houghton MBE (@stephhoughton2) May 28, 2015
EA Sports It's in the gameeee!!!! This is so surreal…. Absolutely buzzing to be on the new FIFA16 #UsGirlsCAN 😁🙋 pic.twitter.com/onixBdc6f0
— Toni Duggan (@toniduggan) May 28, 2015
I'm in the game! #FIFA16 https://t.co/45vn4JzElq
— Allysha Chapman (@allyshachapman) May 28, 2015
“It’s such an honor for women’s players and our team to be included in FIFA 16,” Team USA’s Alex Morgan told EA Sports. “I always wondered what it would be like to see our team in the game and it is very cool to know that it is now a reality.”
For some, the change couldn’t have come soon enough.
FIFA 16 is finally going to have Women's international teams in! At least they can do some things right. #FIFA16 pic.twitter.com/qoyvZOtqm1
— Elecspo (@elecspo) May 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/Jennifer_JB1D/status/603901911692144640
https://twitter.com/DasGherkin/status/603941984504545280
https://twitter.com/goulcher/status/603934608015695872
Of course, every time women advance in some aspect of life, men are there to complain about it.
This is why we can't have nice things. Misogyny is deeply ingrained @EASPORTSFIFA @EASPORTS @Polygon pic.twitter.com/c7R2gu7K8n
— bigfatfrown (@bigfatfrown) May 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/MadeManJama/status/603920242742525952
https://twitter.com/SmuelMartin/status/603902830013980672
The women’s teams will only be available to play against other women’s teams, and their addition is only one aspect of the game. As critics of the sexist comments point out, you probably don’t even have to play as the female characters, so why complain?
https://twitter.com/ArchedEyebrowBR/status/603930119162503169
https://twitter.com/futheadnews/status/603945699693199360
I don’t need feismm don’t be hard on men complaining about women in FIFA 16. They are just scared because they’ve never scored with a woman.
— WomanAgainstFeminism (@NoToFeminism) May 28, 2015
no, there isn't. #FIFA pic.twitter.com/vxZU5eXP8V
— Roz Warren (@RossalynWarren) May 28, 2015
And as one Twitter user reminded us all, there’s an actual FIFA scandal on our hands. Maybe we should pay more attention to that.
There are men complaining about women's teams finally being included in FIFA 16 & not complaining about the ACTUAL #FIFA corruption scandal.
— Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorMade) May 28, 2015
Screengrab via EA SPORTS FIFA/YouTube