Football: Fifa 16 video game to feature women's national teams for the first time

United States footballer Alex Morgan, as she looks in the upcoming Fifa 16. It will be the first game in the long-running series to feature women's national teams. -- PHOTO: EA SPORTS FIFA/YOUTUBE
United States footballer Alex Morgan, as she looks in the upcoming Fifa 16. It will be the first game in the long-running series to feature women's national teams. -- PHOTO: EA SPORTS FIFA/YOUTUBE

The next instalment in EA Sports' popular football video game franchise, Fifa 16, will feature women's national teams for the first time.

The long-running series, which has seen a game release every year since 1993, has only featured men's national and club teams thus far.

The women's national teams of 12 countries will feature - Germany, the United States, France, Sweden, England, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, China, Italy and Mexico.

But the sides will not be able to take on their counterparts of the men's game. The game's website states that the women will only be able to compete against each other.

"As in real life, the sport itself doesn't support that. If that changed, we definitely would," series vice-president and general manager David Rutter told The Guardian.

The game's site also said that star players like England's Stephanie Houghton and the US's Alex Morgan will see their likenesses, body movements and playing styles replicated in the game.

Morgan said: "It is such an honour for women's players and our team to be included in Fifa 16. I always wondered what it would be like to see our team in the game and it is very cool to know that it is now a reality."

Rutter added: "It's been in the pipeline for a few years, and really it was just a case of making sure that the game was in a good enough state for it to work properly."

Fifa 16 will be released in September this year for the PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. The last edition, Fifa 15, was the top selling game in the United Kingdom in 2014.

dshea@sph.com.sg

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