To the critics who question whether the FIFA video game is a fair representation of real life soccer: each year the game improves—whether it is an improvement in the graphical scenery, more realistic-looking players, or even the individuals styles of play. FIFA 15 made many changes to individual style of play. For instance, if one were to look at Lionel Messi, he consistently taps the ball lightly with his left foot just as he does in real life. It is these changes that make the game much more accurate. Each team in the FIFA video game is ranked based upon the skill level and performance of each individual player in real life. Each player is given an over all ranking based upon six soccer skill sets: Pace, Shooting, Passing, Dribbling, Defense and Physical. One of the best players in the FIFA game is Cristiano Ronaldo. His individual rankings are: PAC-93, SHO-93, PAS-81, DRI-91, DEF-32 and PHY-79. The average of these attributes is 92, making that his player ranking which is the highest in the game. The video game produces an average player ranking for each player in the game and the team ranking is dependent upon the average of all player rankings on that team. FIFA has also developed a way of increasing a team’s rating based upon their performance in past games. For example, if a team was playing in multiple matches in a season and performing extremely well, their ranking may increase. This attribute is not effective in the case study I performed, since each match was held individually, rather than in a tournament. This further evidences that the FIFA video game simulation of the Euro Cup first round matches may not be entirely accurate. This is because the qualifying matches that took place earlier in the year—which would impact the teams’ respective rankings—were not incorporated into the study. It can be said that the FIFA matches that I simulated provide a relatively accurate prediction of what may come in the tournament, but since certain variables could not be incorporated it is impossible to forecast what the verdicts of the games will truly be.
