New FIFA 23 Trailer Offers a Deep Dive Into Gameplay

FIFA 23 — launching on September 30 — has revealed an official gameplay deep dive trailer. EA Sports revealed the new FIFA 23 gameplay trailer, detailing what to expect from the latest iteration in their annual football simulation franchise. This year’s FIFA comes with the new HyperMotion 2 technology — promising more realism in movement — alongside women’s clubs, new playstyles, support for crossplay, and two World Cup modes. FIFA 23 launches on all major platforms including PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, and Windows PC.

FIFA 23: HyperMotion 2

As per a PlayStation blog post, EA Sports has upgraded its motion capture technology. Dubbed HyperMotion 2, the technology has captured visual data from actual football matches played by the team in Zaragoza, Spain. It combines real-life 11v11 recordings with machine learning to deliver realistic movement in FIFA 23 — both on men’s and women’s sides.

EA Sports claims to have added new animations and over 500 crowd chants to liven up the on-pitch ambience in FIFA 23. HyperMotion 2 technology brags about empowering improvements across all the gameplay areas — with over “6000 new true-to-football animations transferred from the pitch directly into the game,” says the video.

FIFA 23: Women’s Clubs

FIFA 23 also brings two major Women’s Leagues to the mix — the FA Women’s Super League and the French Division 1 Féminine — which Electronic Arts promises to expand upon in the future. The developers got two women’s teams to play 11-a-side matches and complete drills, in order to capture accurate data using the aforementioned HyperMotion 2 technology.

FIFA 23 gameplay changes

Keeping in tradition, EA Sports has added more minute improvements to the gameplay formula — with fast responsiveness and an overall fluid feel to FIFA 23. While dribbling, players will be able to change directions quickly by interrupting the initial animation. Meaning, that upon pointing the character to the right, players can quickly switch to the left — thereby cancelling the dribble animation. This creates a body feint motion.

Sprinting has been divided into three archetypes on FIFA 23: explosive, controlled, and length. Length is reserved for the strong physical players, but it’s not only limited to the wing defenders. “Some of the strong physical attackers will also benefit from this archetype, which means they might be not as fast on the very short distance,” says the narrator in the video.

The Controlled archetype offers continuous acceleration, while the explosive one is dedicated to midfielders who might need to take charge of the game on and off. These players will generally have short-lasting stamina on FIFA 23. At this stage, EA has not mentioned how these attributes exactly function — as to whether you can pick them at the start of the game, or if they’re built onto players.

FIFA 23 has also redesigned all its set piece mechanics. Penalty kicks will feature a circle around the ball, which represents the composure bar. Timing it right results in a precise shot. Similarly, free kicks will allow you to pinpoint the exact place on the ball you’re about to strike, giving you more control over the trajectory. On defence, you can have a player lie down behind the wall to avoid any grounded shots.

Goalkeepers’ reaction time will be entirely dependent on their vision in FIFA 23. So, if a random player is standing right before them, they will be slower to react. Other changes include improvements to ball physics, jockeying, and new skill moves.

FIFA 23 is out September 30 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. Purchasing the Ultimate Edition or subscribing to EA Play Pro gets you three-day early access from September 27. FIFA 23 Legacy Edition will be available on Nintendo Switch.