Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal F.C. attacker, scores his third goal of the night, completing an impressive hat trick. He runs to the side of the pitch, performs his iconic front flip celebration and waves his hands to the phenomenal crowd. The renowned commentary of Derek Rae and Lee Dixen echoes in my ears as it pours out from the TV.

As an athlete hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, I have found Electronic Arts’ (EA) FIFA 20 video game to be a much-needed source of entertainment. With its realistic graphics and player technology, the soccer simulator has allowed me to recreate the dynamic on-field and broadcast experience. By simply watching the players move on the screen, I’ve been able to hone my game knowledge, despite being physically off the field.

But EA Sports is nowhere near where it should be. Although it dominates the sports gaming industry, the company lacks a strong work ethic and fails to innovate their annual releases. If consumers don’t demand higher quality updates each year, EA will remain complacent without significant competitors in the gaming market.

From my four years of experience playing FIFA, I can confidently say that each year’s game is nearly a copy of its predecessor. Most updates are neither significant nor fundamental, mainly covering player ratings and minor in-game features like set pieces, tactical plays and menu appearances. 

I’m not the only one who has issues with EA’s performance as a company. Voted the “Worst Company in America” two years in a row, EA certainly doesn’t deserve to be the most profitable company in the industry. Unfortunately for consumers, though, EA Sports will continue to overshadow other competitors even if they don’t invest much into game development, as they own series giants such as Madden, FIFA and NBA2k.

At a more local level, many sports gamers at Los Altos High School have also voiced their criticisms of EA’s development.

“There are server problems all the time,” junior Abby Lu said. “They don’t update their player ratings, and their graphics are the only good part. They don’t always get their player animations correct.” 

“I feel like they’re going to start making fewer and fewer games because at some point there’s not much more you can do,” junior Dhruv Bhutani said.

All that said, EA has been a part of my life for many years, and I can’t bring myself to give up playing FIFA entirely anytime soon. After all, the main goal of sports games is to simulate real-life sports as best as possible, and EA does set itself apart in that regard.

However, I still can’t ignore the company’s shortcomings. To satisfy consumers, EA should:

1. Slow down their release rate of titles to increase game quality, allowing them to add new game modes, refresh their AI and introduce new game engines.
2. Increase user control of players’ movements to make gameplay more interactive.
3. Expand advertising and accessibility of their mobile game platforms so that users can play more on the run.

Let’s be honest here. The chances that EA reads this article and listens to my advice are pretty slim. Are they one in 1,000? One in a million? In any case, if EA wants to engage their audiences past the pandemic, they need to implement significant changes — and they need to make them soon. Otherwise, it’s likely that EA fans will continue to pay $60 for the same game each year. 

And as much as I enjoy scoring hat tricks with Aubameyang from the comfort of my couch, that’s a concept I just can’t get behind.