FIFA 20

A New Street Football Era with VOLTA

FIFA 20's most significant addition was VOLTA Football, a mode shifting focus from traditional 11v11 matches to small-sided street and futsal games. The name, meaning 'return' in Portuguese, signaled a revival of the arcade-style gameplay last seen in the FIFA Street series. VOLTA allowed players to compete in 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 matches, emphasizing individual skill and flair over tactical team play. It used the same game engine but was designed to reward creative, independent play.

The mode featured a dedicated story campaign where players create a fully custom avatar, choosing gender, clothing, shoes, accessories, and tattoos. This avatar, nicknamed Revvy, joins the street team J10, led by the street footballer Jayzinho. The narrative follows the team's journey after Jayzinho's injury sidelines him, as Revvy and teammate Syd work to recruit former members and compete in tournaments from Tokyo to New York. The story incorporated cameos from real footballers like Vinícius Júnior and Alex Hunter and his agent Beatriz Villanova from previous FIFA narratives.

VOLTA Football was set in 17 global locations, from generic warehouses and parking lots to real-world cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Lagos, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, and Tokyo. To enhance the local atmosphere, popular Arsenal fan personality Troopz was added as a guest announcer for the London venue, providing reactions and catchphrases during matches. Despite its prominence, the VOLTA mode was not included in the Nintendo Switch Legacy Edition of the game.

Core Gameplay and Mode Updates

Beyond VOLTA, FIFA 20 introduced several changes to its traditional football simulation. Updates to the 11v11 gameplay aimed to encourage more one-on-one situations and create space off the ball. The game also overhauled penalty and free-kick mechanics and updated ball physics for more realistic movement. Commentary was provided by Martin Tyler and Alan Smith, with Derek Rae and Lee Dixon as alternates for all competitions. Alan McInally gave in-game score updates and Geoff Shreeves provided pitch-side injury reports.

The popular Ultimate Team mode expanded its roster of Icon players, adding 15 new legends including Carlos Alberto, John Barnes, Kenny Dalglish, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Garrincha, Pep Guardiola, Kaká, Ronald Koeman, Andrea Pirlo, Ian Rush, Hugo Sánchez, Ian Wright, Gianluca Zambrotta, and Zinedine Zidane, bringing the total to 88. Two new game modes, Mystery Ball and King of the Hill, were incorporated from kick-off. Mystery Ball provided random attribute boosts to passing, shooting, dribbling, or speed during a match, while King of the Hill involved fighting for possession in a random zone to boost the value of the next goal. Ultimate Team also included a new kit supporting the Premier League's No Room for Racism campaign.

Career Mode received major updates based on community feedback, particularly for managers. New features included fully interactive press conferences, player conversations that affected a new morale system, which could impact player stats and their relationship with the manager. Players could fully customize their manager's appearance and gender. A dynamic player potential system, live news screenshots, league-oriented user interfaces, and new negotiation environments were also added. The Pro Clubs mode allowed players to create personalized pros and compete online in squads, with the objective of climbing from Division 10 to win the Division 1 title.

Licenses, Leagues, and Stadiums

FIFA 20 boasted an extensive roster of licenses, featuring over 30 officially licensed leagues, 700 clubs, and 17,000 players. Lionel Messi had the highest overall rating in the game at 94. New additions included Romania's Liga I and its 14 teams, and Emirati club Al Ain, added after fan requests. The game retained exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Super Cup, complete with authentic broadcast packages and custom commentary. An update on 13 March 2020 added the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and Recopa Sudamericana. A later update on 10 June 2020 added Soccer Aid branding, featuring FUT icons in Kick-Off mode through a deal with ITV.

Notable absences resulted from exclusive partnerships with rival series eFootball PES 2020. Juventus, Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Colo-Colo appeared under the pseudonyms Piemonte Calcio, Buenos Aires, Núñez, and CD Viñazur. While player likenesses were retained, their official badges and kits were replaced by custom EA Sports designs, and their stadiums were replaced by generic venues. Bayern Munich was included with licensed players and kits but without its Allianz Arena home stadium, which was also exclusively licensed to PES 2020.

The game featured 90 fully licensed stadiums from 15 countries, plus 29 generic ones. New additions ensured every Premier League team had its home ground, including Sheffield United's Bramall Lane following their promotion. Three new Spanish stadiums were added: Estadio El Alcoraz, Estadio De Vallecas, and Estadio José Zorrilla. A major Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga licensing deal added 13 new German stadiums, including the BayArena, Mercedes-Benz Arena, Red Bull Arena (Leipzig), and Volkswagen Arena. Other notable additions included Lyon's Groupama Stadium, the New York Red Bulls' Red Bull Arena, and the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. The March 2020 Copa Libertadores update added two Argentinian stadiums: Estadio Libertadores de América and Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón.

Release and Platform Differences

FIFA 20 was released on 27 September 2019 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It was the 27th installment in the series and the first mainline game since FIFA 06 and FIFA 08 to not have versions for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A free demo launched on 10 September 2019, featuring six playable teams in UEFA Champions League kick-off mode Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur, and Real Madrid and a preview of VOLTA Football. This demo, available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, was the last free one offered for the FIFA series. EA Access and Origin Access subscribers received early access on 24 September with a 10-hour trial.

The game featured three cover stars across different editions. Eden Hazard of Real Madrid graced the Standard Edition, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was on the Champions Edition, and former Juventus and Real Madrid midfielder Zinedine Zidane featured on the Ultimate Edition.

The Nintendo Switch version was labeled a Legacy Edition. It only included updated kits, rosters, and minor updates. It did not include the new VOLTA Football mode or any other major new features like the updated Career Mode or Ultimate Team additions present in the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions. This disparity contributed to its poor critical reception compared to other platforms.

Reception, Controversy, and Legacy

Critical reception was mixed across platforms. The PS4 and Xbox One versions received generally favorable reviews, while the Nintendo Switch Legacy Edition was met with generally unfavorable criticism. A significant point of contention at launch was the Career Mode, which players reported was riddled with bugs. Issues included computer-controlled opposition managers picking unusually weak teams, players changing positions seemingly at random, and unexplained ratings changes. Critics described these as issues that broke the game's realism.

The frustration led to the #FixCareerMode hashtag trending on Twitter in the UK for several days. In response, EA Sports released a patch on 16 October 2019 to address many of the reported problems. Some later re-reviews, such as one from Bleacher Report which revised its score downward, criticized the core gameplay as becoming a defensive and frustrating experience, citing server issues and an unbalanced feel. The online servers for FIFA 20 were officially shut down on 6 November 2023, ending its competitive lifecycle and online functionality.