FIFA 20 Gameplay Follow Up

Hey FIFA fans,

As a follow up to our latest Pitch Notes article we wanted to give you some more insight into a few of the main topics that the community has raised as a response to what's been published. We've heard that you've loved the transparency and early looks, but raised questions surrounding Timed Finishing, Goalkeeper Movement and Chained Skill Moves. We invited the gameplay devs to share their perspectives into some of these points to add further context, and you'll be able to see their responses below.

Timed Finishing

Timed Finishing was introduced in FIFA 19 to create more depth in the shooting mechanics while increasing the skill gap to differentiate the good players from the best players, and this philosophy remains unchanged.

Our data shows that players who spent time practicing the Timed Finishing mechanic are getting significantly better shooting results than players who did not invest the time to master it, and this is already a step in the right direction in terms of skill. It also tells us that even the best players are unable to execute green timed shots on every timed shot attempt.

Composure in football is very important when shooting, and Timed Finishing in FIFA represents that concept. Instead of just relying on muscle memory we are encouraging you to analyze the game (in a split second), decide whether to use this mechanic or not, and then compose yourself to execute it properly.

Whilst evaluating the feedback given around Timed Finishing, we discovered certain imbalances in the shooting system that were completely independent of Timed Finishing. To explain a bit further, some difficult shot contexts were producing unrealistic results by being more effective than they should have been, and green timing these shots was simply amplifying the underlying problem.

Timed Finishing puts extra control in your hands, and it gives you as a user the ability to increase the speed, add curve, and slightly reduce the error percentage when performing a shot.

The goal for Timed Finishing is not to overcome poor shooting decisions or difficult shooting contexts. In fact, the situation in which you shoot should matter more than ever when deciding whether you time your shot or not. And if you decide to time it, and get it green, you will be rewarded but not to an unrealistic extent.

Shots in difficult contexts, for example a first time 135 degree shot, moving backwards from outside the box should have low chances to be scored even if you time it green. Another aspect is that aim/power still matters, so overpowering a shot can’t be compensated by green timing it.

In addition to fundamental changes to the shooting system that we are doing this year, we’re also making some changes to the timed finishing mechanic itself to ensure a more balanced shooting experience and that the mechanic continues to be just a modifier/influencer to the outcome of your shot.

A few points we’d like to call out:

• Timed Finishing puts an extra layer of control in your hands and our early community feedback has confirmed that it makes shooting more satisfying when timing green. As always, we'll continue to take feedback from players and adjust as necessary.
• Taking away (or removing) shooting control from the player would be a step backward on game depth.
• The green timed window will be slightly harder to hit, and when hitting it, the error reduction will be slightly smaller - which means the risk will be higher.
• The option to turn the feature off will still be there.
• We will continue listening to player feedback regarding Timed Finishing, but first want to ensure we get the changes into our players' hands and get a wider scale of feedback.

Manual Goalkeeper Movement

In order to provide a more authentic experience, the team has modified the Manual GK Movement to simulate the ‘Anticipation’ type of movement seen in real world goalkeepers. Often goalkeepers try to anticipate shots and are re-adjusting their position based on their understanding/prediction of where the shot will go.

In FIFA 20, the Manual GK Movement will be much slower, only allowing you to move one or two steps in the requested direction, instead of full reach across the goal. The improved Manual GK Movement should emphasize the risk/reward aspect of the mechanic, anticipate it wrong and you will have more chances to concede a goal.

In addition to these changes, we're also making sure that the Goalkeeper manual controlling will be aligned with that of the shooter controls - meaning that, if controlling the GK, your manual inputs will lock once the shooter's shot direction has locked.

The feature will feel much different from FIFA 19, so we are excited for players to try it and provide further feedback.

Chained Skill-Moves

After the article at the end of May we heard many comments in association with the 'chained skill-moves' update. One of the reasons that we shared these details so early is to take in your feedback and apply it to development. The team is working through the details of this mechanic right now - like what skill moves will be affected and how attributes will impact the mechanic, etc.

Ultimately, we want to provide an authentic experience for both the attacker and the defender without taking away any options from the player’s hands. Chained skill-moves are not authentic to football and we are working to bring this mechanic closer to real life.

More info to come later as the team continues to investigate how to best accomplish this.

Pre-Launch Pitch Notes Roadmap

Hopefully today's article has given some more context to some of your top concerns on what we've addressed thus far.

Now knowing how we're addressing some of our gameplay concerns heading into FIFA 20, we also wanted to acknowledge those asking for more information on changes and innovations coming to other elements of FIFA 20. One clear piece of feedback we've received is to have more clarity around when you can expect to get more info on your favorite mode, and new features.

Below is an early look at when you can expect deep dives into certain features and modes here on Pitch Notes. These timings could potentially change, but we'll keep you informed if changes do occur. Next up, we'll chat further about gameplay, but this time diving into new mechanics and additions to FIFA 20. Later in the summer, we'll define changes coming to Career Mode, Pro Clubs, FUT and VOLTA. 

Thank you for your continued support and feedback. As always, we're passionate about continuing to deliver information on how we're addressing top feedback, and create an on-going dialogue about the direction of the franchise.


Corey Andress, Gabriel Zaro and the FIFA Gameplay Dev Team


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

Please Note: This article is describing in general terms what updates the Dev Teams are working for FIFA 20 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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