FIFA 23: EA announces live tuning update to address balance issues

WIth FIFA 23 careers now well underway, EA Sports have announced their very first live tuning update has been released.
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FIFA 23 has been on sale for nearly a week and already EA Sports is tweaking some of the gameplay issues users have brought upon social media.

Two of the biggest issues that players felt should be addressed were referee decisions during the game and the mechanics behind penalty kicks - both of which are now tweaked.

The new update follows on from EA Sports “Day One” patch, which has become a common occurrence with the release of video games.

EA Sports “Day One “ patch, released when FIFA 23 first came out, addressed more pressing issues including connectivity issues logging online and other minor day of release problems users encountered.

What EA Sport’s live tuning involves

Live Tuning is EA Sports new patching process where gameplay balance is tweaked in response to user response over a number of titles in EA Sports catalogue without the need of the game experience lengthy downtime periods.

In a post on the official FIFA 23 forums, FIFA Live Operations Associate Producer Goran Popovic explained the reason behind live tuning: “Live Tuning enables us to roll out some changes without requiring a full Title Update.

“This can allow us to make tuning changes faster and with more frequency while working on the balance of the game.

“In order to ensure this update has been applied, please shut down and relaunch FIFA 23 when you see this message in game.”

What effect will the October 5 live tuning update have for FIFA 23?

Among some of the live tuning updates for FIFA 23 comes a balanced approach referees will now take with FIFA’s tackling systemAmong some of the live tuning updates for FIFA 23 comes a balanced approach referees will now take with FIFA’s tackling system
Among some of the live tuning updates for FIFA 23 comes a balanced approach referees will now take with FIFA’s tackling system

As with any aspect of football recently, referees have also been put under the spotlight by FIFA 23 players. EA Sports have addressed issues around fouls, where a soft, arm related foul will now not immediately gain a booking, while harder slide tackles will automatically see a yellow or instant red.

The EA Sports team have also balanced out dribbling for players that have stats in this field below 90. That means no more speedy defensive players charging up the pitch and instead have tweaked their animations to match their real-life counterparts.

Other tweaks EA Sports have made also include making penalty kicks a lot more difficult if the composure ring (the ring that appears once a player has committed to pressing the shoot button) is yellow or red; this adds more of a focus on players with a high finesse rating having more accuracy.

The full list of FIFA 23 October 5 live tuning updates

  • Reduced the accuracy of Penalty Kicks taken when the Composure Ring is yellow or red.
  • Increased Technical Dribbling animation speed for lower rated dribblers. This change specifically impacts players whose dribbling related Attributes are below 90.
  • Adjusted referees to be less likely to call fouls for arm-related collisions.
  • Adjusted referees to be more likely to award yellow cards for fouls committed by Hard Slide Tackles.

Where can I buy FIFA 23?

FIFA 23 is available on the Playstation, X Box, Steam and Switch in digital formats from Electronic Arts website.

You can also purchase FIFA 23 on a physical format through Amazon on the PS4, PS5 and X Box Series One.

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