FIFA 21: Latest Info on Modes, Gameplay Videos and More

It's not hard to get caught up in the hype for FIFA 21. 

Annual sports titles arriving at the end of a console life cycle tend to be at their highest point. And FIFA's taking a proactive approach by stressing a strong start to the next generation by having 21-year-old superstar Kylian Mbappe on all three covers of the game. 

Add in a sleek look at gameplay features, and it's not hard to see why the hype train rolled out of the station at runaway speeds: 

The big takeaways in the new game are more realistic control over dribbling, ratings-calculation tweaks to make the on-pitch action better resemble the real thing, and standard improvements to A.I. performance and collisions. 

Gameplay improvements won't matter much to players if there aren't some notable places to deploy them. 

But as expected, FIFA 21 doesn't appear to be lacking in the modes department. 

This year, Career Mode gets an overhaul, and one of the biggest talking points is a new interactive simulation feature. Perhaps more importantly to the simulation, player progression and development and better outright weekly team planning stand out as some of the must-know new features for the mode. 

But as always, FIFA employs many different modes across pitches all around the globe to feature its stellar gameplay. 

Think, FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), where EA Sports has decided to dial back on the non-gameplay elements. 

In pursuit of this goal, FUT this year features fewer replays, toned-down celebrations and streamlined club management. EA expanded upon the latter in a recent development writeup: 

"Streamlined Club management removes the time-consuming parts of managing your FUT Club to let you focus on the fun. Players recover full fitness after every match with no need to manage Fitness Items. Staff Coaches and Training Items have been removed to simplify the experience, and an updated injury and healing system makes it easier to manage your lineup from game to game."

That means not only greater accessibility, which could lead to a broader, retained player base, but more time experiencing the gameplay instead of shuffling around in menus and worrying about trivial details. 

And speaking of buzzwords like accessibility, FUT will also boast a companion app this year, which has been a boon for the markets and team building for players on other devices in Madden for a while now. 

Similar themes apply to Volta Football, the arcade mode that lets players travel to creative pitches all over the globe after making an avatar and tackling challenges. 

Volta Squads is exactly what it sounds like, permitting the formulation of random teams, groups of friends or otherwise to tackle challenges and divisions, if not fresh limited-time events like Featured Battles. 

To also streamline the player onboarding process, "The Debut" is a new cinematic experience that serves as a tutorial for Volta Football. 

How a player's character progresses has been tweaked as well, per a developer diary: 

"After every match, your Avatar will earn a Match Rating based on their Match Performance. Your Match Rating can increase based on successful in-game actions (such as effective passes, getting assists or scoring goals) or decrease based on unsuccessful in-game actions (such as intercepted passes or missed tackles). A higher match rating will result in a faster growth for your Avatar."

Again, the overarching themes this year seem to be—besides the obvious listening to fan feedback—dialing things back and making things smoother so players can enjoy more time on the pitch itself. 

And based on the slow drip of gameplay reveals and the videos showcasing some of those changes, it's pretty clear the on-pitch moments will be as strong as ever for the series.