What’s the story?
FIFA 18 is still months away from its release in September but the game managed to cause a wave of excitement when leaked footage indicated that the Brazilian striker Ronaldo could be making a return to the franchise. The report, which leaked on Reddit, shows two Russian commentators recording dialogue for the new game, during which they mention Ronaldo.
The context
Every gamer who plays multiplayer matches online knows what a Legend is; extremely rare cards of former professional footballers that they can use to strengthen their team in the FIFA Ultimate Team mode.
A leaked Instagram video on a Reddit report suggests that there is a good possibility that this year’s addition could be the legendary Brazilian striker Ronaldo. Fans, despite being excited, are concerned about the rating he might be assigned. At the age of 23, Ronaldo had already made a name for himself by scoring over 200 goals for club and country.
The heart of the matter
The news first broke on Reddit when an Instagram video showed two Russian commentators, Georgy Cherdantsev and Konstantin Genich, preparing commentary for FIFA 18 and talking about Ronaldo.
While at first it was assumed that the commentators were talking about the Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, a Reddit user translated their comments and pointed out that they were talking about a “Ronaldo” who had a fascinating stretch at Barcelona.
Also read: Fans want a significant upgrade for Cristiano Ronaldo in FIFA 18
The roughly transalted dialogue reads: "After a transfer to Barca, Ronaldo became the best striker by scoring 34 goals in 37 games, he won the best player award in 96,97 and Golden Ball in 97. In one season he became one of the best snipers in La Liga, a unique accomplishment indeed."
This obviously rules out Cristiano who began his senior club career for Sporting Clube de Portugal and later went on to play for Manchester United and Real Madrid. Ronaldo de Lima had moved to Barcelona from PSV in 1996. While at Barcelona, he won the La Liga top scorer award (Trofeo Pichichi) in 1997 for scoring 34 goals in 37 matches.
What’s next?
Fans will be able to play and find out more about FIFA 18 and the possibility of Ronaldo being on the roster during the EA Play event at the E3 convention this coming June.
“From June 10-12, players joining us in Hollywood (LA) will get hands on with the next Star Wars Battlefront and Need for Speed experiences,” read an EA statement. “You'll also get your first chance to play many of our upcoming EA SPORTS titles: Madden NFL 18, FIFA 18 and NBA LIVE 18. This isn't all, by the way...and we'll have more to share in the coming months.”
PlayStation users, however, might be in for some disappointment as EA has decided to keep FIFA Ultimate Team Legends as an Xbox One and Xbox 360 exclusive.
Fans are hoping that, during the E3 reveal, EA will showcase the Nintendo Switch version of FIFA 18, a version which EA has confirmed to be a separate custom build. Previous reports had indicated that the Switch version would be based on legacy consoles like PS3 and Xbox 360, and most likely won’t include a story mode.
With the revolutionary “Play anywhere, anytime, with anyone” console design, the biggest advantage of playing FIFA on the Switch is the ease with which a player can play local multiplayer games. However, EA has said that it might have to look into the issues with the Switch controls, especially if players decide to use the detachable Joy-Con controllers.
The last FIFA that appeared on a Nintendo console was FIFA 13 when EA released it as a Wii U launch.
Author’s Take
While EA has not released any official confirmation, previous accidental FIFA leaks on Instagram and Reddit have always turned out to be true. In essence, adding Legends to FUT is EA and FIFA’s way of acknowledging certain legends who no longer stand in the spotlight.
EA has already added players like Pele and Gullit to the roster, and including Ronaldo on the FIFA Ultimate Team Mode seems like a move in the right direction considering that he’s had an excellent run during his club and international career, and has a huge fan base.
