Electronic Arts Inc. has announced that Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid C.F. will be the global cover star of EA SPORTS FIFA 18. The highly anticipated title, which will launch worldwide on Sept. 29, is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
During a training session at a mobile EA Capture Studio in Madrid, Ronaldo was recorded to make his video game likeness as realistic as possible. The parameters studied included his acceleration, run cadence, and shooting technique. These metrics also helped inform gameplay fluidity, player responsiveness, and player explosiveness.
“He was doing everything perfectly with 100 percent effort,” Sam Rivera, the Associate Producer for FIFA, told Goal. “You don’t see that very much in professional players who are doing motion capture because they normally don’t want to get injured. They need to be 100% for their actual job and not to capture stuff for a video game.
“Ronaldo was a very different experience. In the time he was on the field, for the 10 minutes that we were capturing him, he was sweating. We had to even tell him to slow down because when he was turning, he was slipping and we didn’t want Ronaldo to get injured as we would be in trouble with Real Madrid.”
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Ronaldo said in a statement he was grateful to have been chosen.
“The world’s best player has helped fuel the biggest leap forward on the pitch that we’ve ever delivered,” Aaron McHardy, Senior Producer for EA SPORTS FIFA, said in a statement. “We are extremely excited to partner with Cristiano — working with him we learned a lot about his unique play style and what makes him so special. His passion, energy and global fanbase make him the perfect ambassador for FIFA 18.”
Named FIFA Men’s Player of the Year in 2016, the “Sultan of the Stepover” recently scored his 100th goal in European competition. Ronaldo is Portugal’s all-time top goal scorer and the country’s most-capped player in history, having appeared in 138 games for the national team.
Fans who pre-order the Ronaldo edition of FIFA 18 on PS4, XBOX One, or PC will receive three-day early access, which will allow them to play starting on Sept. 26. Additional details were revealed at EA PLAY in Hollywood this past weekend.