FIFA 16 has Womens National Teams for the first time

A major addition to FIFA 16 means that for the first time in the franchise there will be Women’s National Teams. The teams from twelve countries include Australia, Canada, England, Germany and the United States of America and will feature in a variety of game modes. Kick off, an Offline Tournament and Online Friendly matches will all be on offer.

“Bringing some of the best women’s players and teams in the world to our franchise is a massive event for EA Sports, and we are equally excited about bringing millions of fans a new way to play,” says FIFA 16 producer David Rutter.

And it turns out women aren't even slightly tricksy to animate. In a first for the series, all-new player movement has been created from motion capture sessions at EA Canada. Players from the US Women’s National Team Sydney Leroux, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe were all drafted in to create a a brand new set of animations. Refreshingly, this is no mere tacked on addition. Entirely new player models were created using a 360 degree scanning rig and a mobile head scanning unit was taken to tournaments to capture facial features and hairstyles to recreate each of the twelve teams as authentically as possible.

“I honestly can’t believe all of the science and technology behind the game itself, let alone getting us into the motion capture suits and eventually into the game,” says Abby Wambach from the US team. “We’re all excited to see ourselves in the game, but even more excited to see the reaction from all of the fans, including the fans of our team that maybe wouldn’t be expecting something like this from EA Sports.”

Check out the full trailer below.

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Louise Blain

Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode.