Vita FIFA 13 inbound, won't connect with PS3 game
New handheld FIFA game due, but cross platform and cross buy won't figure just yet.
The new FIFA game that's heading to Sony's PlayStation Vita won't connect with the PlayStation 3's FIFA 13 - though EA Sports is focusing on hooking up the FIFA experience across different platforms.
"We are doing a Vita version," EA Sports David Rutter confirmed in an interview with Eurogamer in Cologne earlier today. "Sony were kind enough to put that up yesterday, though I don't know if it's going to be called FIFA 13 or FIFA Soccer."
Sony's conference placed an emphasis on the Vita and its cross-platform play, as well as a new cross buy initiative that gets you the home and handheld versions of a title for the cost of a single game. Neither of those features will be taken advantage of by the Vita's new FIFA.
"We don't have cross-platform play," Rutter said. "It's something that, when you look at the priorities of what's going to be done, do you want to be working on passing, shooting, attacking intelligence etc. or that - and we'd rather make a brilliant playing game for everyone rather than something that's only going to appeal to specific people."
When asked whether it'd be possible to share saves between the PS3 and Vita, while it's not present now it seemed there's a possibility it could happen in the near future. "Not at the moment," Rutter said when asked if the feature was in the new game. "But all of the things that we're trying to figure out across football at the moment is how to get every device connected up."
That persistence comes through FIFA's Football Club, which carries your profile from console to mobile, a feature that was announced at this year's E3.
Yesterday it was announced that FIFA 13 would be utilizing Sony's Move controller, allowing players to direct runs and passes with the PlayStation 3's motion controller. "We've got a great relationship with Sony," said Rutter, "and they asked us can we think of a way to use it so we said sure."