FIFA 21 isn’t far away, but if you want to try it before you buy, you won’t be able to download a demo like usual. EA Sports has announced that they won’t be releasing a demo for this year’s FIFA, so as to better focus their time and effort on developing the game.
On Twitter, the official FIFA account explained that while there won’t be a demo, EA Play subscribers will be able to trial the game before purchasing. As usual, the EA Play trial gives players access to the game for 10 hours from October 9. The game will also be available to purchase on this date.
While it’s not explicitly mentioned in the tweet, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the arrival of next-generation consoles, has presented challenges for annual sports games–and Madden 21 seems to have suffered.
We aren’t releasing a demo for FIFA 21.
Instead we’ve made the decision to focus our development team’s time on delivering the best full game experience for current & next-gen consoles.
We look forward to EA PLAY members jumping in 10 days from now and launching the game Oct 9.— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) September 21, 2020
This will apply to the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game. The Switch release of FIFA 21 is a Legacy Edition, meaning that the gameplay is unchanged from the first FIFA release on Switch.
A PS5 and Xbox Series X release date for FIFA 21 has not been announced yet, but if you grab the game for a previous-gen system, you’ll be able to upgrade to the next-gen version for free once it’s available.
FIFA 21’s cover star is Kylian Mbappé, and this version’s cover looks very different. Check out GameSpot’s hands-on preview for more insight into how it plays, and if you’re keen to get your hands on this year’s FIFA, we also have a preorder guide.
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