FIFA OPEN WORLD

The following work was made for my level design classes during my Master degree in Game Design at I.I.M., Paris, France, under the supervision of Hugo Duron, level designer on Hunt : Showdown.

I was challenged to design in 1 week an open world into the FIFA license (or as it is called now, EA SPORTS FC) and to do the blocking of a zone of the said open world.
The simulation aspect and the take that EA has on football (or soccer….) in general made me unable to propose an eccentric gameplay.
I therefore chose to provide an experience integrating open world mechanics into FIFA career mode. The result turns out to be much more hub-ish than expected. But it offers another approach to this roleplay mode by offering players something other than a menu to facilitate identification with their character.

I chose to create a city called La Ciudad, a city that revolves around football. I did the blocking of its downtown in Unreal Engine 5 :

Quick proof of concept – Some designed features are, of course, missing or unpolished

EXPERIENCE DESIGN – A QUICK SUMMARY

Navigation

It was important to me to provide an interesting gaming experience where players weren’t just walking, but still « playing football » in some way. Offering a pass system allowing players to temporarily boost their speed, coupled with a scoring system by shooting at urban goals, turns La Ciudad is a real fun exploration experience!

Life in the city – Quests and events

To accentuate the feeling of belonging to a world, I offer players a city in which they can meet other FIFA players but also where many NPCs wander around. They will be able to pass them balls, chat with their fans, or avoid the haters who will try to tackle them to steal their balls! In addition, real players from their team will walk the streets of La Ciudad, in order to create a coherent and living world.

All of these people will be able to take players on side quests and challenges related to football.
In addition, many random events linked to daily life will twist the player’s navigation in a semi-random manner between each match. This will create a feeling of renewal as well as anchoring in the reality of La Ciudad.