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Online petition to bring Women's Football to FIFA

I love how may developers and game producers we have in here. All with intimate knowledge of game licensing costs and development time. Who knew.
Indeed.
It makes good business sense if you ask me.

It doesn't even have to be done well - 80% of the player profiles in the game are terrible anyway.
...
The License would be PEANUTS too.

We are talking about EA here. They are the masters of re-using code plastering on new rosters and calling it good. They can get it done.

Of course there's a market. No question.

I think if you get the license for almost nothing. And the likeness of only the key stars is where you put your effort.
...
EA could make that deal at a significant reduced cost - compared to every other license they pursue.

The merits of whether this would enhance the profits of the game are irrelevant so long as you could implement without expending to much cost - I think you could.
 

BKK

Member
Someone earlier in this thread said the following:



If that's true, then I'm not sure why adding smaller leagues and teams with far fewer fans than the big ones is okay but adding some women's teams who also have far fewer fans than the big ones is not.

Because the world's biggest women's league (National Women's Soccer League, US; Attendance 2013: 375,846) is still much smaller than even the 5th tier of the English Football League (National Conference; Attendance 2013/2014: 1,029,099) which isn't included in FIFA either.
 
Sorry but nope don't see it and I agree with him.

Not enough people care about it or women's football.

Until that changes and gets to a point where EA can see $$$$$$'s from doing it, then it ain't gonna happen.

Blunt and Harsh, but the truth is sometimes.
 

Jezbollah

Member
Because the world's biggest women's league (National Women's Soccer League, US; Attendance 2013: 375,846) is still much smaller than even the 5th tier of the English Football League (National Conference; Attendance 2013/2014: 1,029,099) which isn't included in FIFA either.

That is quite a damning stat.
 

SgtCobra

Member
It's nice and stuff but women's football itself has basically no market. Empty stadiums, low tv ratings.
The World Cups are the only events which get a little attention.
So much this.

People need to know the problem lies outside of the "EA is not marketing their FIFA games on females" notion (which isn't even true, their marketing is aimed at football fans, no matter their sex)
Women's football is just unpopular to the general public at the moment (it's changing very slowly though), the sport is dominated by males.
 

Jamix012

Member
Someone earlier in this thread said the following:



If that's true, then I'm not sure why adding smaller leagues and teams with far fewer fans than the big ones is okay but adding some women's teams who also have far fewer fans than the big ones is not.

Simple really, you can play these low-tier teams against the high tier ones and in career mode you can manage and raise a team to the top league by beating your favourite players and recruiting some of them to play amongst your no-namers. Not really possible to do with women unless you make a unisex league.
 

Mory Dunz

Member
It really wouldn't appeal to new markets in any significant way.

In my 21 years of talking to girls who play soccer on the teams or university, they don't know anything about the women's game or international matchups or whatever. Heck, I'm sure a lot more males are fans of women's soccer than women are by far. This isn't a disparagement on them, they just don't care.

So having a female FIFA wouldn't draw them in to play FIFA. They really don't care that much. I doubt women see FIFA and want a women's version. They probably just want to FIFA as their favorite players in the BPL or Bundesliga or whatever...

Of all the high school, select team, college team soccer girls I've talked to about soccer, I don't think even one knew who Marta was. They don't follow it. Plain and simple. They play the sport every day and are obviously really good, but they don't follow the women's game. It's anecdotal evidence...but it's a lot of anecdotal evidence spread across many years with what should be the target audidence.

It'd be interesting to see, but it doesn't make sense financially and it wouldn't have an impact....like at all. I'm being very blunt.

Politicians would praise them though I guess.
 
I'm all for adding more women in games where it makes sense but this doesn't make sense. There just isn't a big enough market for EA to put time and resources into something like this.
 

Dylan

Member
Because the world's biggest women's league (National Women's Soccer League, US; Attendance 2013: 375,846) is still much smaller than even the 5th tier of the English Football League (National Conference; Attendance 2013/2014: 1,029,099) which isn't included in FIFA either.

I bet there are a lot of male soccer fans with young daughters who like video games though...
 

Mr-Joker

Banned
Isn't Women's Football growing in popularly? I could have sworn it was.

I am not a fan of Football but I am willing to share and sign this, no reason why female should be left out in the cold.

I don't want to watch women football and I don't want to play such a game.

I wouldn't care if it would be in the game, but I won't be signing anything to get this into the game.

Then why even bother clicking on the thread and posting, hell you claim that you don't care if it ends up being in the game but you are unwilling to make the effort to sign the petition, which literally takes 1-2 minutes instead of making a narrow minded post.
 

trixx

Member
They could probably do this. Pick a couple of the top women's teams from around the globe.

I think it is how they catered for some of the more obscure countries in the past, just had a couple of teams in there, so you wouldn't have any league options for the team but you could use them in a quick match etc.
Yeah this could work as a starting point
 

FuturusX

Member
The real issue is ever-present in this thread - pretty much the reason EA won't do it. The general hostility from male players is enough to scare even talk any mode out of the game.
 
I wonder why some people are all of a sudden worried about EA's resources. Lord forbid they even cater the thought of a new market to reach.

As a fan of the game if I had to choose I'd rather they stop trying to add more content to the game (this includes men's leagues no one cares about) and more time on actually improving the core game. Seems like a broken mess every year.
 
The real issue is ever-present in this thread - pretty much the reason EA won't do it. The general hostility from male players is enough to scare even talk any mode out of the game.
Oh come on, the probable real reason has already been rationally discussed in this thread, development costs to do it likely greatly outweigh the benefits. But apparently only you are qualified enough to determine what EA's development costs would be. Because reasons.

I wonder why some people are all of a sudden worried about EA's resources. Lord forbid they even cater the thought of a new market to reach.
No one's "worried" about EA's resources, we're just explaining why, as nice as adding women to FIFA would be, it's unlikely to happen without a much larger market.
 
The real issue is ever-present in this thread - pretty much the reason EA won't do it. The general hostility from male players is enough to scare even talk any mode out of the game.

Yeah, just look at all the disgustingly sexist remarks flying around in this thread scaring all these poor women away.

Step on the brake a bit man. Pretty much noone has anything against women's teams being in a FIFA game. Most people are just rational enough to know there's not much of a chance of EA spending extra money for miniscule gain.
 

FuturusX

Member
Yeah this could work as a starting point

Women's World Cup is next year 2015, a optoinal DLC with the 24 teams - so as to not offend the players who wouldn't buy a FIFA game with a women in the roster, would be interesting first entry.

That's like adding one extra league. Remove Ligue 1 (France) if they want to make space. I kid French football fans :)
 
The real issue is ever-present in this thread - pretty much the reason EA won't do it. The general hostility from male players is enough to scare even talk any mode out of the game.

Calm down.

Saying you are not interested in a women's soccer mode in FIFA isn't oppression of women. EA will know if there is a relevant market for such a mode.
 

mreddie

Member
If EA can add those female hockey players in NHL, why the fuck not here? WNBA in 2K sounds like a wasted opportunity too.
 

FuturusX

Member
Yeah, just look at all the disgustingly sexist remarks flying around in this thread scaring all these poor women away.

Step on the brake a bit man. Pretty much noone has anything against women's teams being in a FIFA game. Most people are just rational enough to know there's not much of a chance of EA spending extra money for miniscule gain.

Some think it's expensive and pointless and I think it CAN be inexpensive and worthwhile. The fact that I think there is an undercurrent of sexism in this thread and in the market in general, is my opinion. Oh and I don't feel like stepping on the brake, just calling it as I see it. Feel to to disagree though.

Calm down.

Saying you are not interested in a women's soccer mode in FIFA isn't oppression of women. EA will know if there is a relevant market for such a mode.

Oh I'm calm, I just think it is arbitrary to add the feature given how many teams in much smaller markets are added to the game - especially in the international rosters - It's not really a big deal to get it done.

But I agree that the general male FIFA fan wouldn't by FIFA for this and that's what EA cares about - But I don't think this feature is for them not directly.
 

SDCowboy

Member
Yeah, if you're trying to change minds that only care about the bottom line, you're not going to make much traction by saying "Well you're making boatloads of money, you could totally make less and it wouldn't be a big deal". They didn't get this point with that sort of mentality.

Wouldn't bother me one bit if they implemented it in future games, but I don't know, I think there are better battles to pick than this one at this point.

That's how big business works. It has to be able to make a certain level of profit for it to be worth a certain level of effort. I'm all for the women's game being implemented, but I also would understand if it's not profitable enough to be worth the effort. My point being they shouldn't feel obligated or forced to put it in for the sake of pleasing the hyper-PC people.
 

Dylan

Member
How many here remember playing sports games when they were a kid without actually knowing anything about the sport?

I sure do. I played soccer games before I even knew what FIFA was. I played football games and I still to this day don't give a shit about the NFL. NBA jam played a large part in getting me interested in basketball, a sport that I still play as an adult.

People underestimate the difference between the commercial viability of a professional league and the willingness of a girl to play a game with girls in them.


If I had a daughter and it came time to buy Christmas presents, fuck yeah I'd buy the women's version.
 

Oersted

Member
The real issue is ever-present in this thread - pretty much the reason EA won't do it. The general hostility from male players is enough to scare even talk any mode out of the game.

Yep. Point in case Gamergate.

I wonder why some people are all of a sudden worried about EA's resources. Lord forbid they even cater the thought of a new market to reach.

The licenses would be dirtcheap and they already have the infrastructure.
 
I bet there are a lot of male soccer fans with young daughters who like video games though...

The subset of people who 1) are interested in video games and 2) are male soccer fans and 3*) don't buy the FIFA games but would buy them if there were female football players because 4) they have young daughters can't be that big.



*: because if they are already buying it as it is... why would they add another feature in the game which cost money? they already have their $30 profit without expending more.
 
The issue is that female futbol/soccer just doesn't have the popularity of the male version. It doesn't have the appeal and if the possible increase in sales doesn't warrant spending the resources in adding it as a mode, then it seems like a bad business move. Male players have all of the huge ad deals, practically all of the media coverage, and they are the recognized names. Heck the World Cup is entirely based off man futbol, there's no female division representing the countries (there might be one, I just haven't heard of it).

So personally? I don't see it happening. I feel there are better fights out there to be fighting that can be won as they'd have bigger support. Maybe I'm wrong though and this'll get huge support.
 

Duster

Member
Sadly with a lot of women’s sport the peaks like the world cup attract big crowds and a lot of viewers but the average game doesn't.

The average attendance for a top flight women's game in England is 570, the amount of them being potential FIFA customers must be pretty low.

The lowest average attendance in the fourth tier of the English man's game last season was more than double that at 1605.
http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/DivisionalAttendance/0,,10794~201326,00.html

So it's the old chicken and egg situation, the sponsorship and the media coverage won't come until it's more popular and people say it won't be more popular without more coverage and sponsorship.

Even tennis that has a strong women’s game often gets terrible ratings, BT Sport really pushed the WTA but hardly anybody watches it, I can't find a good link but these mention it and I'm sure any ratings site would back it up.
http://www.*****************/sport/...ale-stars-new-BT-advert-Champions-League.html
http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/...rt-the-sorry-state-of-ladies-tennis-1-5616917

The same channel also paid a lot of money for Clare Balding to front a show that aimed to always feature some women's sport and the ratings for that are bad too.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/09/clare-balding-show-bt-sport

FIFA video games are just a small part of the issue, they need to see there's a market there.

Unless more people started to actively support what is available on a consistent basis nothing will change.
 

Teeth

Member
The more I think about it, the more I think this would be a good idea, but only in a specific sense.

I think the way to do it would be to create a number of female models of decent quality (do it on the cheap, outsource it) and just use the bone structure animations from the core FIFA title. Like someone previously mentioned, licensing the teams would likely be super cheap. Drop the models into the existing FIFA engine and release a stripped down game for $20 digital only.

If it sells, the market is there, go nuts. If it doesn't, not much was lost. As a side benefit, EA gets to double dip on the crazy FIFA fans that want it all and they can entice people on the fence about soccer games in general with a cheaper alternative. All the super meatheads that refuse to play as women wouldn't be buying it anyway and they'll have their un-sullied sausage fest to play with in the core game.

If they made it DLC for the core game, you're asking the interested market to pay more for something that is niche anyway. Why not try to lure them in with a cheaper alternative?
 

Tetsuo9

Member
As a soccer fan the only women's leagues I watch are the world cup and summer olympics, I can see myself playing those.

FIFA can definitely have women's world cup but if they would need a significant model and animation work, I'm thinking at least fouls and celebrations would need to be changed.
 
Some think it's expensive and pointless and I think it CAN be inexpensive and worthwhile.
Do you mind explaining your experience that you're so confident to be so dismissive of others' opinions about development costs?

To be clear, if the development costs are as negligible as you claim, I'd love to see women's teams too.
 
Some think it's expensive and pointless and I think it CAN be inexpensive and worthwhile. The fact that I think there is an undercurrent of sexism in this thread and in the market in general, is my opinion. Oh and I don't feel like stepping on the brake, just calling it as I see it. Feel to to disagree though.

I just don't see the sexism at all. If everyone was saying "No I don't WANT this to happen because it is too expensive for EA!" you might be on to something but that's not the case.
I only have big doubts EA wants to do it even if the extra effort and costs are as small as you think they are.

I assume most people reacting negatively in this thread think similarly though from what I've read.
 

FuturusX

Member
Do you mind explaining your experience that you're so confident to be so dismissive of others' opinions about development costs?

To be clear, if the development costs are as negligible as you claim, I'd love to see women's teams too.

It's a national secret. If I told you I'd have kill you.
 
Man... don't let it fold into the EA sports game monopoly production line.

Pitch it to a company that isn't EA, to pick up the licence and make a good football game.
 
Why not just mix teams, that you can play female and male players in a match at the same time.

mostly cause of things like this I guess

GZHB4.jpg


lol
 

dhlt25

Member
Why not just mix teams, that you can play female and male players in a match at the same time.

have you actually watch any soccer? women soccer is almost a completely different game from men soccer. Unless you make the women play like men it's really is impossible.
 

El Topo

Member
Because the world's biggest women's league (National Women's Soccer League, US; Attendance 2013: 375,846) is still much smaller than even the 5th tier of the English Football League (National Conference; Attendance 2013/2014: 1,029,099) which isn't included in FIFA either.

Not that impressive if you take the average.

National Women's Soccer League 2013/2014: 4,137 (108 matches)
Conference Premier 2012/2013*: 1,849 (552 matches)

Don't get me wrong, looking closer at the numbers (league size, lowest/highest attendance) I'd still say those are disappointing numbers for the biggest women's league, but it's not as ridiculous as you're trying to paint it. I mean, looking at the total numbers you'd think MLB was by far the biggest league in the world. It's just not quite that simple.

*Couldn't find the average attendance anywhere. Assuming your numbers are correct, we're talking about ~1,864 average attendance.
 
From reading this thread; most of the replies are not even looking for any alternate ways to go about it or even give it a consideration.

Yeah, you're right. It's because of a simple reason though: Barely anyone is interested in it.

If EA adds the teams/leagues whatever that's great but if not I won't lose sleep over it.
Actually as someone already pointed out there's already enugh men's leagues noone cares about in these games, for all I care they could just replace those with women's teams.
 
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