FIFA 17 Street Date Broken in the UAE; India Release Soon

As is the case with most games available on disc, FIFA 17 has seen an early release in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Several retailers in the country have posted pictures of stock today. Speaking to a few gamers based in the UAE, Gadgets 360 has confirmed the same.

Thanks to this several Indian retailers are expected to bring in copies of the game as early as Monday, September 26 at a price not too dissimilar to Rs. 3,999 (your mileage will vary from store to store) for which it is available for pre-order on Amazon India.

For the record, FIFA 17 is only officially available at Amazon India from September 29 - the actual release date of the game, the reasons for which we’ve covered in-depth here. This is par for the course considering FIFA 16 and FIFA 15 saw independent game stores bringing in the game earlier than EA’s own partners in the country.

We've seen this happen with The Division, Far Cry Primal and Street Fighter V, Indian merchants with contacts in the UAE bringing in copies through parallel import channels. Prior to this games like Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Order: 1886, and Just Cause 3 were some big name titles that found themselves available locally prior to release - all of which were stock meant for the Middle East.

(Also see: FIFA 17 Review)

While three days might not seem much for many a casual gamer, for FIFA fans it gives them the headstart in mastering FIFA 17’s many nuances, and there are plenty.

For what it’s worth, we found FIFA 17 to be a step down from last year’s game. While there’s fun to be had in FIFA 17, it’s nowhere close to what it should be. Some fundamental changes to the moment to moment gameplay are detrimental to the overall experience and The Journey mode falls flat. Rather, it’s padded in all the wrong places. FIFA 17 isn’t the best effort from EA but it isn’t the worst either. There is a better football game this year, and it isn’t from EA.