FIFA 14 Soccer for iOS released in New Zealand

With just over a week before the PC and console launch of FIFA 14, EA have released the iOS version of the soccer game. Currently FIFA 14 for iOS is only available in New Zealand, but we don’t know if it will roll out to other regions today, or is being tested in New Zealand, which is an increasingly common practice.

Much like Real Racing 3, EA have opted to make FIFA 14 on iOS free to play. This freemium model means you’ll probably need to make in game purchases to progress in the game. With Real Racing 3, the freemium model met a great deal of criticism in the media, but it seems users were very happy with it.

FIFA 14 for iOS features over 600 teams, 33 divisions, and more than 16,000 players.

One difference with FIFA 14 is that you can buy a ‘fully unlocked’ version of the game for $5.99, which adds Kickoff, Tournament and Manager modes. Whether you choose to pay or not, FIFA 14 is a huge download, at 1.16GB, so make sure you have space on your device!

When companies get freemium right, it can make games more accessible and popular, but if it feels unfair or unreasonably expensive, gamers are unsurprisingly offended. EA’s football game Madden NFL 25 for iOS was really unpopular with users who complained that rewards for playing well were far too small, forcing you to pay for in game currency.

If EA are testing FIFA 14 early in New Zealand, it could be that the freemium model is being tested and tweaked before the game is rolled out to the whole world.

FIFA 14 is currently available for iOS in the New Zealand iTunes Store, with no announcements regarding an Android release date.