INTRO:
Hey FIFA fans,

With the FIFA 19 season in full swing, we have another edition of the Pitch Notes, this time covering the changes contained in the fourth title update for FIFA 19, which is available now for all PC players and is targeted for release on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the near future.

As part of our continual effort to provide clarity around the changes that we make in the game, we will be focusing, in this article, on a few of the key changes in this title update, primarily around some of those that were made in gameplay. This article will only be touching on some of the changes in this title update, for a full list of everything contained in this update, please check out this post.

GAMEPLAY

In this title update, we have focused on changes to AI Teammate defending, the effectiveness of a well timed tackle in separating the dribbling player from the ball and the effect that defensive pressure has on a player's fatigue.

AI TEAMMATE DEFENDING

We have heard the feedback from the community that it, at times, didn't feel like manually controlling your defending players was rewarding enough, and that letting the AI defend was effective enough that the reward of controlling your defending players wasn't always worth the risk. To make controlling your defenders a more rewarding and effective method of defending, we have made a couple of changes to the way that an AI Teammate will defend during the match.

Before we dive into the specific changes that were made to the defending that is done by an AI Teammate, we first need to define what an AI Teammate is.

An AI Teammate is any player on the pitch that is not being controlled by either a human, or who is not a CPU AI Controlled Player, a term we have covered in previous Pitch Notes articles, that you can find a refresher on at the bottom of this article*. So, for example, in a FUT Champions Match, where there is a human controlled player on each team, the AI Teammates would be every player on the pitch, except the two players that were actively being controlled by the humans at any given time.

Given the above, here are the situations where AI Teammates exist:

• AI Teammates exist in the following circumstances:
  • On a team with no human players.
    • For example, the CPU-controlled team in Squad Battles.
  • On a team with a human controlled player(s) that are not locked to specific players.
    • For example, both teams in FUT Division Rivals.
  • On a team with a human player(s) that are locked to specific players, that also has CPU teammates.
    • For example, a Pro Clubs team with less than 11 human players.
• AI Teammates do not exist in the following circumstances:
  • On a team full of human players who are all locked to specific players.
    • For example, a Pro Clubs team, with 11 human players.

With that in mind, let's focus on the two changes that were made to AI Teammate Defending in this title update.

AI Teammate Defender Shot Blocking

To make it more rewarding to control your defending players near the box, we have made some changes to the distance that a defending AI Teammate will stretch when trying to block an incoming shot. Prior to the title update, an AI Teammate defender would have been able to stretch the same distance as a human controlled defender would have in order to block an incoming shot, but after the title update, an AI Teammate defender will not be able to stretch as far as a human controlled defender will be able to.

Here is an example of a shot blocking situation, from before and after the title update, which highlights the changes to the AI Teammate defenders. Before the title update, the AI Teammate defender stretches very far to make a shot block, preventing the shot from getting through. After the title update, that AI Teammate defender doesn't perform that stretch block, allowing the shot to get through on target.

Before Title Update:

After Title Update:

AI Teammate Tackles

To make it more rewarding to control your defending players when covering an attacking player with the ball, we have made some changes to the distance that a defending AI Teammate will stretch when trying to make a tackle. Prior to the title update, an AI Teammate defender would have been able to stretch the same distance as a human controlled defender would have in order to tackle an attacking player that is carrying the ball, but after the title update, an AI Teammate defender will not be able to stretch as far as a human controlled defender will be able to.

TACKLING

We made some changes to tackling in the previous title update, focused on making it more rewarding when a well timed tackle is executed by the defending player by making it more challenging for the dribbling player who was tackled to recover the ball.

We have another change, in this title update, aimed at further increasing the reward for a well timed tackle, by increasing the tendency of the ball to travel further from the dribbler after a tackle is performed, which will increase the likelihood that the dribbling player will lose possession of the ball following that tackle.

The videos below show an example from before the title update, where a tackle is executed and the dribbling player is able to keep control of the ball, as it doesn't travel very far following the tackle, and after the title update, where the ball travels far from the dribbling player after the tackle, causing him to lose possession of the ball.

Before Title Update:

After Title Update:

DEFENSIVE PRESSURE

We were seeing that when players were defending with lots of pressure, such as when the Constant Pressure tactic was set in a team's Dynamic Tactics/Game Plans, that they were not being impacted by enough fatigue by the end of the match, allowing them to be effective at pressure defending for the entire match. To make this more authentic to the experience on the pitch, we have increased the impact to fatigue of playing with defensive pressure during the match. Direct from the patch notes, here are the details of the change:

• Increased the impact to fatigue of playing with defensive pressure.
  • This change will have the biggest impact to fatigue when playing with Constant Pressure enabled in your active Game Plan or when playing with Team Press active.
  • This change will have reduced impact to fatigue when playing with Pressure On Heavy Touch or Pressure After Possession Loss enabled in your active Game Plan.

To give an example of the impact of the change, we have two teams that have played a full match while defending with Constant Pressure as set in the Game Plan for the team. Before the title update, you can see that their fatigue levels were depleted, but there was still a fair amount of energy left on the players. After the title update, the players are have fully drained their fatigue bars.

80' - Constant Pressure before Title Update:

80' - Constant Pressure after Title Update:

STARHEADS

Coming with this title update are 42 starheads for players. These will be usable in-game once a pair of server releases goes live, which is planned for shortly after the release of the title update on each platform. Make sure to follow @EASPORTSFIFA on Twitter for updates on when they can be used in-game.

Here are examples of some of the new starheads in game:

(From the top: Diego Godin, Mauro Icardi, Daniele Rugani, Ever Banega, Ryan Sessegnon, and Helder Costa)


The full list of starheads can be found below.
In the patch we have a mix of players featuring new and updated starheads for the 2018/2019 season.

Here are the 18 brand new and updated starheads coming with this title update:

There are also a number of legacy starheads returning in FIFA 19. These starheads have existed in previous titles and are now being added to FIFA 19 after player transfers:

As always, we appreciate all of your continued feedback on FIFA 19. Head over to our forums and let us know your thoughts on our most recent updates.

Gabriel Zaro, Joel Doonan and the FIFA Team

*A refresher on what we mean by “CPU AI Controlled players”.

• The CPU plays the game as you would, limited by the same input restrictions that a human player is.
• This means that the CPU team has an active player, just like you do, which we call the CPU AI-controlled player.
• A CPU AI-controlled player exists in the following circumstances:
  • On a team with no human players.
    • For example, the CPU-controlled team in Squad Battles.
  • On a team with human players who are all locked to specific players, that also has CPU teammates.
    • For example, a Pro Clubs team, with less than 11 human players, with no “ANY” player.
• A CPU AI-controlled player does not exist in the following circumstances:
  • On a team with human players who are not locked to specific players.
    • For example, a team in FUT Champions.

For more deep dives on FIFA 19 from members of the game team, check out the Pitch Notes Page.

Please Note: This article is describing in general terms what updates are implemented in Patch #4 in FIFA 19 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. We are constantly looking to improve the gameplay experience for everyone, so this article may become outdated as we make adjustments to keep our game fun for everyone.

FIFA 19 is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

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