http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/fifa08_ng_blog_5_player_ratings_23404.pdf
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`FIFA Soccer 08 on Next-gen Blog 5
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`Release Date: Sept. 19
`Topic: Player Ratings
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`Joe Booth, Lead Producer
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`Creating and maintaining our FIFA 08 database is an enormous undertaking that requires coordinating
`researchers all over the world and organizing their information. This year FIFA 08 will has 30 leagues,
`more than 570 teams and more than 15,000 players – this represents more leagues, teams and players
`than all other EA SPORTS games combined.
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`In addition, a lot of player transfers happen during the first transfer window which is right when we are
`finalising our game so our database researchers work round the clock during this period to make sure we
`capture every move. Last year in FIFA 07 we provided two downloadable database updates: one in
`September and another one in February, following the closure of the transfer windows. This was the first
`time EA SPORTS has been able to update the content of one of its sports titles in the middle of the
`season and this new approach has enabled us to make a more realistic playing game. To give you some
`numbers: between September 2006 and February 2007, there were 75,000 player database updates and
`more than 4,300 transfers in the database.
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`Michael Müller-Möhring
`Football Data Manager
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`The FIFA 08 database team is based in Vancouver, Canada where the FIFA franchise is developed for
`EA SPORTS but we have a community of database researchers stationed all over the world. The majority
`of the data is entered by these experts living in these countries. Our database researchers watch live
`football games to evaluate and rate the skills and abilities of each player. They also rely on television,
`internet, magazines and newspapers for information. As a team we then review all of the player ratings to
`make sure player attributes are as authentic and realistic as possible.
`
`Every team and league in FIFA 08 is represented by at least one football expert working for EA SPORTS.
`Currently there are approximately 500 editors from Sweden, Argentina, Germany, Turkey, Czech
`Republic, Mexico, Switzerland, Scotland, South Africa, etc. working on collecting accurate data. We have
`about 20 researchers scouting and evaluating players just from the Spanish leagues. Our community of
`database researchers is constantly expanding and the database team is always looking for
`knowledgeable football supporters who would like to join our community. Anyone can apply by going to
`this website: www.eafootballtalentscout.com .
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`The data gets updated on a 24/7 basis throughout the year. Our editors are dedicated football supporters
`and they follow their teams and leagues every single day. We use an online database that they log in to
`and update the team and player data. This enables us to have constantly updated information and
`evaluations that reflect the real world. So when we notice that a player is performing better or worse than
`originally evaluated the database is edited to reflect the changing status of that player.
`
`The same goes for the appearance of the players: if David Beckham gets a new look from his
`hairdresser, our editors go into the database and select his new hair style right away. All these changes
`happen frequently so the community of database researchers are always busy adjusting and tuning the
`ratings and rankings.
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`The database team works closely together with the producers, engineers and technical artists from the
`FIFA 08 game team. Together we decide which attributes and traits are added to the database, which
`attributes and traits are used by the AI of the game to determine decisions of the player or the CPU,
`which new data fields would be useful to support the manager mode part of the game and make it better
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`in general. We also work with the artists to create new hair styles and other assets the community can
`assign to the players later on.
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`The data plays an integral role in creating a dynamic and authentic gameplay experience. The data drives
`all of the decisions that are calculated by the game code. FIFA 08 features AI with a 35-point decision
`engine which enables players to process 1,000 potential options and reactions every second in real time -
`- more than 60,000 options every minute, They combine this new level of intelligence with a dynamic
`‘Threat Map’ system to capture the excitement and realism of football.
`
`The database drives these types of decisions. This includes things like how successful the gamer or the
`CPU opponent is when shooting, passing, tackling, or heading the ball, how a player reacts in a challenge
`or after losing a ball, what the goalkeeper does during a one-on-one situation, etc. The database
`describes the playing style, behaviour and characteristics of each player and distinguishes him from all
`the others. For example, the database tells the game engine that Steven Gerrard has a very powerful
`shot from long distance when in a good position. Also, Cristiano Ronaldo will rely on his speed and
`dribbling to get past the defender and attempt to score from inside the penalty box.
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`The database sets the customized formation of each team and determines the role of every single player,
`his exact position on the pitch, the defensive effort and the attacking movement. Furthermore, the playing
`style of the team is driven from the attack and defense tactics and the build-up play options that are
`edited in the database.
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`We currently use 35 attributes, 70 traits and more than 65 additional data fields to describe the
`characteristics and the abilities of every single player. For the teams it is between 60 and 90, depending
`on the size of the team. We are constantly evolving our database and game engine to provide our fans
`with the most realistic playing football experience in the world and I would expect that the way we
`evaluate players will continue to be refined in the future.
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`One of the most important aspects of creating an authentic football gameplay experience is to create
`players that look, move and play like their real-life counterparts. That’s why the database and the overall
`ability or rating of each player is so important. We use 35 attributes to calculate the overall ability of a
`player and every position has its own formula. Each attribute is weighted and its importance is based on
`the player’s position. For example, attributes like “Marking”, “Tackling” and “Heading” are more important
`to the overall make up of a centre back than a winger.
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`In most cases this calculation is a mix of physical attributes (Strength, Speed, Stamina, Agility etc.),
`mental attributes (Positioning, Vision, Tactical Awareness etc.) and the skill attributes (Crossing,
`Dribbling, Short Passing, Tackling etc.).
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`When it comes to rating the players, we of course need to set some guidelines for the community: a
`player from Premiership who is known to be “very good” in heading should have a higher rating than a
`player from the third division of Norway who is known as a “very good” header in his league.
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`These guidelines are very important to make sure that all editors from the different countries (and with
`different football philosophies) are on the same page when it comes to the final ratings of the players and
`the teams – this is where the multinational database team in Canada comes in. The database producers
`are constantly monitoring and managing the updates and changes made by the community and we act as
`a filter to make sure that players are accurately evaluated. We also can react immediately to correct a
`player rating if we spot an overrated or underrated player.
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`Hopefully this gives you some insight into how we develop our player ratings and its impact on the game.
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