A history of football video games
Fifa 23 was the 30th game in the popular video game series.
It was previously revealed that the game will be the last in the franchise, but it most certainly doesn't spell the end of football video games. Let's explore the history and future of football video games.
What was the first football video game and what football games did people before that?
Despite the sport not being as popular in the United States, the first dedicated interpretation of football in video game form was based on the NASL (North American Soccer League) Soccer.
Before Video Games were around, people recreated their favourite football moments with Subbuteo. This type of game has remained its popularity. Ever since the 1940s, millions of fans have adored it and replicated some of their favourite moments from the real world.
The first version of FIFA and the Ultimate Team revolution years later
The first version of FIFA was called FIFA International Soccer and was released in 1993. The game only featured International teams, and the real player names were not used. FIFA 95 was the first to feature club sides within eight national leagues. You can see from this footage of FIFA 2003 how much the game has evolved over the last 20 years.
The biggest revolution in recent years has been Ultimate Team. This is a mode that lets everyone build a dream squad. Gamers play matches online and offline to earn FUT Coins. They use the Transfer Market to buy and sell Player Items and create an Ultimate Team to make their mark on the pitch.
History of PES and introduction to eFootball
The first version of PES from Konami came out in November 2001. The PlayStation 2 version received widespread praise from video game critics.
The main difference between the two games has always been that Konami’s game has had significantly fewer licensed teams, but the game and its dedicated player base have traditionally tried to make it up for it with an in-depth editor mode. It has recently become a free-to-play game after being completely rebranded from the original Pro Evolution Soccer series to the eFootball series.
More than just FIFA and PES
We will now explore some other classic games to take you on a trip down memory lane.
Sensible Soccer
This is a series that was highly popular in the early 1990s and still retains a cult following. Often known affectionately as Sensi, the first few entries in the series received rave reviews. The first release in the series sold around 200,000 copies. By 2002, it was estimated that overall, the series had sold over 2 million copies.
This Is Football
This was a series published on various generations of the PlayStation between 1999 and 2010. It first appeared in 1999, but it was not until its debut on PS2 in 2001 that it started to shine and was genuinely competing with FIFA and PES for the title of the best football game.
Club Football
Club Football was a series of games produced by Codemasters in 2003 and 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Each version of the game focused on a specific club with their official replica stadium, shirt, and players.
Football Manager
This is a football management simulation developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. It began its life in 1992 as Championship Manager and takes on a more strategic and in-depth look at football. Many real-life managers even use the game to run the rule over potential new signings. The earlier entries of the Championship Manager series are still popular within online communities.
