FIFA 21’s cover is getting a major overhaul, and its cover star is an extremely talented young player. This year’s cover star is Kylian Mbappé, the 21 year-old forward for Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappé is also on the French national team, and has won several acclaims over his career, including being named Golden Boy in 2017 and winning the Ligue 1 Player of The Year when he was just 20.
But what EA had in their mind while designing the box art? The standard edition looks like the budget re-release of the Mega Drive version more than a new, modern game and is bafflingly ugly. The Champions Edition doesn’t look much better and has the same Photoshop has only just been invented 90’s vibes. The Ultimate Edition is a bit classier but of course it’s the most expensive version. This year’s instalment sees a shift in the design pattern from previous years, with outer images now surrounding the main cover picture.
The montage of images on the cover pic of different editions has not been received well by the Fifa community though! A member of the Fifa Ultimate Team on FB remarked, “Nice start to Fifa 21 EA!! Imagine a billion dollar company with a “professional graphic designer” using an image from google images for your cover, someone fire this graphic designer please.” There are several such comments creeping up from different Fifa communities!
However, ‘Being on the cover of FIFA is a dream come true. From my time at Bondy to Clairefontaine to the World Cup, this marks another big milestone’, said Mbappé. Meanwhile, Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix and Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland will feature prominently in the game’s menus and graphics.
