FIFA 23 | Pitch Notes - FGS 23 Deep Dive

Hi everyone, my name is Matt Loftus and I am the League Operations Manager of the FIFA Global Series (FGS). I want to share that this year will look similar to last season, but with a few key changes. To help ease you into all of the details, we’re going to break up this article into the following sections:

1. FUT Division Rivals
   Division Rivals continues to be the premier game mode for those looking to prove their skills and qualify for competitions in the FIFA Global Series.
2. Online Cup Changes
   The Road to the FIFAe World Cup™ has some changes to the qualifiers including a new points system, updated regions and a newly calculated Global Series Playoffs.
3. The Mid-Season Major
   A large-scale open, offline event, qualifying players to the FIFA Global Series Playoffs, and the Play-Ins, with $500,000 in prize money up for grabs!
4. Play-Ins to Playoffs
   The introduction of the Play-Ins will feature separate competitions where participants from domestic leagues and the rankings can earn the last remaining spots for the 64 player Global Series Playoffs.
5. A New Team Based Competition
   Team-based play continues for the second year featuring a new league-style competition inviting the top teams to compete on the path to the FIFAe Club World Cup™.

Registration & FUT Division Rivals

FUT Division Rivals is where all the action is at and where we’ll be looking for the next generation of FIFA stars.

To take part in the competitions, you’ll want to do the following:

1. Register and accept the Official Rules on the FIFA Global Series website when registrations open on October 10th, 2022 and close on December 31st, 2022.
2. Compete in FUT Division Rivals, reach the Elite Division, and climb the ranks!

Same as last season, your FUT Divisions Rivals Elite Tier Skill Rating is what determines your eligibility to compete in the Online Qualifiers. Registered, eligible players who reach the Elite Division will receive access to the Competitive Game Mode after review. FUT Division Rivals as well as matches in the Competitive Game Mode will all use the Competitive Settings feature introduced last year. As an addition in FIFA 23, Tactical Defending will be required and Through Pass Assistance can be toggled between Semi and Manual.

All EA-run competitions will be exclusively on PlayStation 5. The Competitive Game Mode does not support cross-play at this time and you will need to use a PlayStation 5 to compete. Playing FUT Division Rivals in the Elite Division on other consoles will not lead to an invitation to play in Online Qualifiers.

The Road to the FIFAe World Cup 2023

The Road to the FIFAe World Cup is the pinnacle of our 1v1 pathway. Here, individuals show their true strengths; to see whether they have got what it takes to go all the way through a vigorous challenge of online and offline competitions.

Online Qualifiers

There are significant changes coming to the Online Qualifiers for FGS 23.

The first major change is that we are combining Europe East and West to compete as a single region. With the merger of Europe, this brings additional changes to the structure of the Online Qualifiers. Below you can see the changes to the maximum number of participants that can take part in each qualifier:

• Europe - 512
• LatAm South - 128
• LatAm North - 128
• Middle East - 128
• North America - 128
• North Asia - 64
• South Asia - 64
• Africa - 32
• Oceania - 32

Additionally, we are expanding the total qualifiers for Europe to five, all other regions will be competing in four Online Qualifiers throughout the year.

Players will continue to earn Global Series Points throughout each Online Qualifier and as an addition for this year, we are introducing our new points per win system. This is only applicable during the Swiss stage, which aims at awarding those that narrowly miss out on the elimination stage. At the end of the season, the players on top of the leaderboard in each region will be invited to the Global Series Playoffs to join the top finishing players of our Partner League Events.

Further paths to the Playoffs will be available via the Play-Ins.

The Online Qualifiers will run with a standardised format throughout the season in all regions where there are enough players registered. Qualifiers with more than 32 players registered will compete over two days, with the first day being Swiss and the second day being the Single Elimination knockout stage. New to this season, Loan Player Items will be allowed for use during Online Qualifiers.

Online Qualifiers will take place on the following dates:

Players must play in the same regional Qualifier all year, tied to the country of residence upon registration. For more information on which of the following regions your country of residency belongs to, check out Appendix 1 of the Official Rules once registrations open.

Qualification for the first event will be based on the first season of FUT Division Rivals, starting at game launch on September 27th. The second event will be based on the second season, and so forth.

Mid-Season Major Event

New to the FGS 23 season will be an in-person, open 1v1 competition with a $500,000 prize pool. Taking place the weekend of April 7th in London, players will compete against the world’s best for one of two direct seats to the Global Series Playoffs.

Players at the top of the Global Series Rankings as of February 21st, 2023, will receive invitations to the Group Stage. All other players will play in the Open Bracket. The Open Bracket will be open to all eligible participants who purchase a ticket to compete in the tournament, in London. Those who make it through the Open Bracket will join the Group Stage players in the Championship Bracket to crown the Mid-Season Champion and earn their seat at the Global Series Playoffs.

Do you watch our streams and think to yourself that you’re better than the best players in the world? The Open Bracket will be your chance to compete. More information about the Mid-Season Major will be available soon.

Partner League Events

A defining part of the FIFA Global Series is the ability to compete in and represent some of your favourite clubs in your domestic league. Our league partners will announce their esports plans over the coming days, weeks, and months. By competing, you will have the opportunity to earn a seat at the Global Series Playoffs or the Play-Ins.

Play-Ins to Playoffs

This year we are introducing a new stage of competition which aims at broadening the scope of players that are given the opportunity to qualify for the Global Series Playoffs. The Play-Ins will feature Swiss to Double Elimination or straight Double Elimination depending on the size of the tournament. 

Players will play in their region’s Play-Ins by placing well in league competitions, the Mid-Season Major, or in the Global Series Rankings.

The Play-Ins will be held on the following dates:

• Europe: June 13th - 14th, 2023
• All other Regions: May 27th - 28th, 2023

FIFA Global Series Playoffs

The FIFA Global Series Playoffs will feature the best 64 players from across the world. Much like last season, players will have the opportunity to earn their seats directly through the Global Series Rankings, but also through Partner League Events. The Playoffs will award players a portion of the $300,000 prize pool as they progress through the tournament.

The Global Series Playoffs will find 24 players who will qualify for the FIFAe World Cup. The 64 players will compete until 24 players are remaining, at which point, play will stop and we will have our FIFAe World Cup participants!

Below is the breakdown of the seat allocations for the Global Series Playoffs:

A New Team Based Competition

We would like to introduce to you the EA SPORTS Cup; a dedicated team-based competition that sees the best of the best go head-to-head on a weekly basis in-person, in London.

This competition will feature 20 teams across a three month period, starting on October 17th. Teams will be battling against each other for a share of the $250,000 prize pool.

Teams will face off against each other in four groups of five teams playing in a Double Round Robin format with the top 2 teams in each group advancing to the knockout stage. The knockout stage will consist of a Single Elimination Bracket. The two finalists will advance to the FIFAe Club World Cup^TM.

Let’s Go

If you’re ready to prove that you deserve to stand among the top players of the game, then head on over to the official website and register starting October 10th. If you want to make sure you don’t miss out on FGS Swaps Tokens or any of our tips and tricks from the top players in the game, keep an eye on Twitter and remember to follow the Twitch channel and subscribe on YouTube.

- The EA SPORTS FIFA Esports Team

FIFA 23 is available to pre-order for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia.

* Conditions and restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/games/fifa/fifa-23/game-offer-and-disclaimers for details.

**Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See tos.ea.com/legalapp/eaplay/US/en/PC/ for details.

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