FIFA 20 is out in September with a focus on micro skill

FIFA 20's release date is September 27. In an interview at EA's E3 2019 event we learned what the team has been tweaking since FIFA 19. It sounds as though players who enjoy close manual control and skill moves will have more to play with. EA Spots is toning down AI defenders. They will offer less help and encourage you to engage with FIFA's manual defensive systems.

To help you out, tackling will be more effective if you use the appropriate tackle in the right context. Offensively, EA Sports wants to give more time and space to the dribbler and create more tense one-on-ones. If you like to dazzle opponents there are more skill moves and chaining multiple skill moves together will have "a more realistic outcome", it's unclear whether this means your player will just fall over if they aren't Messi. Players should feel a little more different to play too. Player characteristics like speed and strength will have slightly more impact on their performance.

Penalties and free kicks have been overhauled. You now have a clearer idea of the trajectory you're aiming for, but spin must be applied with skill using the right stick. The analogue skill requirement will hopefully prevent the classic guaranteed sweet spot goals that sometimes creep into FIFA games. In addition to all this there's a new FIFA Street mode called Volta. EA Sports hasn't shown much of it yet but it sounds like it will offer five a side and 3v3 setups and a keeper/no keeper option.

It could be awesome. For more detailed systems updates and Volta news, keep an eye on the FIFA Pitch Notes page.