• FIFA 23 LED EUROPEAN GAMES INDUSTRY SALES IN 2022
That’s according to new data from retail monitor GSD, which has been published on GamesIndustry.biz.
On the hardware front, 5.3 million consoles were sold in Europe last year, which was down 25% compared to 2021’s total. Nintendo Switch was the clear best-seller, despite registering a 15% decline over the year before. PS5 comfortably secured second place even though its sales down were 35%, while sales of the third-placed Xbox Series X/S were up 4.4% year-on-year.
In terms of software, 159 million console and PC games were sold across 31 tracked European markets last year, a decline of 7.1% over 2021’s total. The data covers all physical game sales in major European countries, and digital sales from most major triple-A publishers (Nintendo being the most notable exception).
82.5 million games were sold digitally and 76.6 million were through physical retailers. FIFA 23 led sales ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Elden Ring, Grand Theft Auto 5 and FIFA 22.
Games that missed out on the top 20 included NBA 2K23 at No.23, Splatoon 3 at No.27, WWE 2K22 at No.32, Mario Strikers: Battle League Football at No.34, Sonic Frontiers at No.43, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection at No.44, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope at No.46 and Dying Light 2: Stay Human at No.48.
• CRISTIANO RONALDO'S FIFA23 RATING IS THE LOWEST IN THE PAST 12 YEARS
The 37-year-old footballer has joined Saudi club Al-Nassr, where he will earn 200 million euros a year. The relocation to Saudi Arabia has not gone unnoticed in eFootball community; in FIFA 23, Ronaldo's player ranking has dropped significantly.
On the release day of FIFA's latest version, the Portuguese striker wore the colors of Manchester United, which he had joined in 2021. Cristiano Ronaldo's FIFA 23 rating was 90 points (one point less than in the previous version).
The player's rating slipped by two points after his transfer to Al Nasr, and it now stands at 88. Although the difference seems insignificant, it is important in the case of this player. The last time Ronaldo received such a poor score was in FIFA 11, when he received an 87.
Ronaldo lost the most in these categories: his dribbling performance dropped to 81 from 84, and his stamina dropped to 70 from 74.
We can say that Ronaldo was "punished" by FIFA 23 for moving to a less successful team.
• FIFA 23’S TEAM OF THE WEEK 13 PUTS A GOALIE IN THE TOP SPOT
This week features a number of cards in the high 80’s with the top card rated 89.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s goalkeeper Kevin Trapp has the highest-rated card this week with an 89 rating. Four cards have also been given a rating of 88, which is one of the highest in the game.
FIFA Ultimate Team’s (FUT) TOTW often has cards rated 90+ but the number of cards in the high 80s seems to balance it out.
The TOTW cards will show up as special cards in FUT packs this week, with boosted stats. Ivan Rakitić is one of the two rare double-boosted cards this week, with a six-point boost from 82 to 88. Stephan El Shaarawy is the other rare double-boosted, with a massive 11-point boost from 77 to 88.
Here is a list of all the players in FIFA 23’s Team of the Week and their boosted stats:
· 89 - Trapp
· 88 - Rakitić, El Shaarawy, De Ligt, Mahrez
· 85 - Pedro Porro, Torreira, Zambo Anguissa · 84 - Mario Hermoso, Skhiri, Bowen, Hitz
· 83 - Diego Rico, Doekhi, Vázquez, Vojvoda, Wimmer, Morelos
· 82 - Janssen, Nketiah
· 80 - Leahy, Dugandžić
· 79 – Jacobsen
• FIFA 23 EASTER EGG STARRING RYAN REYNOLDS AND ROB MCELHENNEY DISCOVERED
Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, best known in the football world for small Welsh club Wrexham AFC, have been discovered in a FIFA 23 Easter egg.
Smaller clubs like Wrexham aren't normally featured in FIFA, but the club entered the game purchasing in FIFA 22 in the "Rest of the World" category, likely due to the novelty of Reynolds and McElhenney being the new owners.
Wrexham then returned for FIFA 23, only this time, players have found some trash talk from Reynolds and McElhenney from the benches.
In one clip, there's a gentle putdown of Liverpool as a "minuscule, improvisational version of a football club". In another, the duo express bitterness about Stockport County, who were promoted from the National League to English Football League last season.
Deeper into the world of fictional football, FIFA 23 also features AFC Richmond the fictional Championship club featured in the TV series Ted Lasso starring Jason Sudeikis.
• EA SECRETLY NERFED ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC WITH DOWNGRADES
EA has nerfed some Centurions from Team 2 in a cloak-and-dagger operation. Especially Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti are affected. It is not the first time in FIFA 23 that cards get an unannounced hotfix.
As if the FIFA 23 Centurions weren't bad enough already, they were made even worse overnight. Especially the popular Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been hit hard. EA has, without informing the community, "adjusted" important in-game stats of the Centurions Team 2 players.
It didn't take long for the news to spread on Reddit and Twitter. Because something like that naturally catches the attention of the community. Ibrahimovic has had 24 stamina and 24 balance deducted! The price of his card is currently dropping rapidly. And that doesn't surprise us, because stamina and balance are the most important attributes for every player.
But it's not only that, because at the same time, other stats of Ibra's Centurion card have been buffed. Yes, you read that right. So, EA basically released a card with completely wrong in-game stats on Friday.
If you're thinking to yourself now: Yeah well, that's one player, it can happen... wrong! Almost every player from Centurions Team 2 is affected. It would be more than fair if EA corrected the Centurions back to their old stats. Many players paid millions of coins for Ibra because his stamina and balance were so good. They are now making a big loss because of it. Theoretically, these could also be coins from FIFA Points. Follow us in social medias for latest information in cybersports! GO PLAY WITH CLA!