In a move that will surely shock and surprise anyone who has been living on a desert island for the last ten years, EA has confirmed that FIFA 14 will be the latest in its evergreen football franchise, due this Autumn.
There will, of course, be new features. Protect the Ball is a new option for attackers, allowing you to back into defenders Drogba-style, clear space before moving to the ball and control the pace of the goal approach to avoid tackles. There will also be more realistic ball physics with "non-linear drag coefficient" allowing the ball to gently swerve and bend in flight rather than simply flying in a straight line from where it was kicked.
Mostly, however, the aim of this year's edition will be to bring back the emotional magic of banging the perfect goal in the back of the net, with the publisher admitting that in FIFA 13 it became a little too easy to keep scoring by repeating the same attacks. Defence has now been tightened up, with defenders marking players more closely, forcing you to come up with more unique and bold runs at goal.
"It naturally makes you have to think a little bit more to get the opportunity," producer Nick Channon told Eurogamer. "Now, by having proper build-up play through midfield, you have to think a little bit more about football, and it's going to create a much bigger variety in the different ways you can score."
FIFA 14 is set for Autumn release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. What about next gen or handheld? EA insists that more platforms will be announced soon, so don't panic!