FIFA 18 World Cup Mode Update Announced, Release Date Confirmed

The men's football World Cup starts this June, and fans of the beautiful game now have an official video game to get themselves warmed up for the biggest sporting tournament in the world. EA has revealed its World Cup expansion for FIFA 18, and it's coming to PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch on May 29.

For the first time, EA has opted to not release a standalone World Cup game and will instead release a free update for its most recent yearly soccer game, FIFA 18. The expansion includes all 32 teams competing in the tournament this summer, along with all 12 Russian host stadiums, official team kits and badges, and more.

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Online Friendlies and Tournaments will be playable within the World Cup expansion, while Custom Tournaments will allow you to create fantasy versions of the finals where other teams qualify--helpful if you want to imagine teams such as Italy, the Netherlands, and USA did manage to get to Russia after all.

Ultimate Team, meanwhile, will receive special World Cup cards--including World Cup Icons--and a revamp to Chemistry that sees players benefit from playing alongside players from the same nation or confederation. FIFA Mobile will also get a limited-time World Cup update from June 6, though EA hasn't said much else about the smartphone version as yet.

Being an expansion, the update is built upon the core of the FIFA 18 base game. We awarded that game a 7/10 in our FIFA 18 review. "It's off the pitch that EA excels," we said. "From the variety of game modes on offer and how everything's presented, to the constant updates in FUT's Team of the Week, Daily Objectives, and discussion of real-world happenings in commentary, FIFA 18 captures the world of football and confidently translates it into a video game. On the pitch, however, EA's soccer series is still lagging far behind PES 2018's more fluid, satisfying football. This year's improvements are welcome, but more needs to be done in the coming years if FIFA is to be a world-beater once again."