Xbox One FIFA bundle was not a reaction to E3 criticism
EA's David Rutter also explains how FUT Legends will work.
Microsoft's big Gamescom announcement this year was the news that people who pre-order Xbox One in Europe get FIFA 14 free, but the game's executive producer David Rutter has denied that the bundle was thought up by the platform holder to help ease price concerns after E3.
"It's been going for a long time," Rutter told Outside Xbox. "In the same way I remember most console launches - I've been around for all of them - bundles happen, and this is something that Microsoft and EA have agreed to do and it was going on a long time ago.
"I don't know when - it's not something I'm personally involved in - but at the same time it's great to get it on there for the fans, and everyone that's going to buy an Xbox One in Europe gets one, so brilliant."
Rutter also talked in more detail about the way Legend players in FIFA Ultimate Team, exclusive to Xbox systems, will work when they launch in November.
"They're going to be introduced into the packs in a semi-random fashion at different times, and then depending on your luck you may get one or not, and then it's a case of you putting them into your team," Rutter said.
Rutter also admitted that the Legends - of which 40 have been unveiled so far - are likely to be rare and expensive in the second-hand auction house.
"It's kind of controlled by the community at large and the economy of the system in the game," he said.
"So I think when they appear they're going to be very popular, not just because they're star players but also because they're quite good, and put simply, if a Pele becomes available and people want to bid on them in the auction market they're going to, and I think people are going to want them in their team."
As for how the players were chosen, Rutter said that EA Sports was looking for "people who personify amazing moments in the history of sport".
He also said that FUT Legends would continue into future versions of FIFA and that EA Sports would widen its search for potential players, too.
"What we wanted to do this year was introduce over 40 of the greatest from more contemporary times," he said. "But I think what we'll be doing [in future] is going back further in time."
FIFA 14 is due out on current-gen systems on 27th September, with next-gen versions due at the launch of each console.
