EA has once again leaked a major chunk of upcoming FIFA 23 content, this time releasing the Men’s World Cup mode early on PlayStation 5.
As reported by Eurogamer, PS5 users have shared their surprise on social media as they’ve been able to access the World Cup mode menus and team lists ahead of its official launch.
While games can’t currently be played in the World Cup menu, the leak has revealed that the upcoming DLC will contain four game modes when it releases later this year: FIFA World Cup Live (which will presumably let players emulate that day’s real-life games), FIFA World Cup Kick-Off, Online Tournament, and FIFA World Cup 2022.
How to access FIFA 23 World Cup Mode on PS5 ✅🫡 pic.twitter.com/A0yRf9WXCr
— FUT Mentor (@FUTMentor) October 12, 2022
It also showed that the World Cup mode will include 48 teams in total, 16 more than the real World Cup’s 32-team roster. It’s unclear what these additional countries are, but EA usually adds a custom World Cup mode (perhaps the fourth mode mentioned previously) that allows players to put their own country in the tournament bracket and take them all the way.
While EA has yet to announce a specific release date for the expansion, the actual Men’s World Cup begins on November 20. The Women’s World Cup is also coming to FIFA 23 but likely not for a while as the real event doesn’t start until July 2023.
EA previously leaked the entirety of FIFA 23 a month ahead of its launch after various users who had pre-loaded the game on Xbox were given access. The unusual leaks haven’t affected the game’s sales, however, as EA announced earlier this month that FIFA 23 has had the best launch in franchise history with a record breaking 10.3 million players logging in during its first week.
This will likely also be a pleasing send-off for EA – and perhaps a slightly worrying one for the actual FIFA association – as next year’s entry will be called EA Sports FC. EA ditched the brand name after FIFA reportedly asked for $1 billion every four years for the name alone, spurring EA CEO Andrew Wilson to comment that all it gets from FIFA is “four letters on the front of the box”.
In our 7/10 review of this year’s entry, IGN said: “FIFA 23’s slick and dramatic virtual football is fitting for the series’ last hurrah under its long-time name, but familiar frustrations abound, and it still greatly undervalues some of its most beloved modes.”
As for the Nintendo Switch version, however, IGN gave it a 2/10, saying “FIFA 23 on Switch is a prime example of minimal effort for maximum profit.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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