FIFA 19: How the Players are Rated

With FIFA 19 for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 available from September 25, it's only natural that with just two months to go, speculation is rife on what ratings players receive in the game. FIFA 19 player ratings are a subject of speculation for many a hardcore FIFA fan and the process is as herculean as you'd think. It involves a network of around 9,000 reviewers, 300 data pools, and 35 categories to sift through and assess 18,000 players.

According to sports site Bleacher Report, EA Sports Head of Data Collection and Licensing for FIFA, Michael Mueller-Moehring has the unenviable task of putting FIFA 19 player ratings together. Coming up with the FIFA 19 player ratings includes assessing all 18,000-plus players featured on FIFA 19 through a network of nearly 9,000 reviewers including talent scouts and season-ticket holders who relay their opinions through EA's central data pool. This is followed by 300 data editors collating this information into 300 different data pools. It's from here that FIFA 19's 35 attributes are derived.

However the "eye test" of seeing players in action supersedes the available hard data due to the vast range of players recreated in-game. It also means that those who take offence to their FIFA ratings (and there are a few) have no excuse.

"If Messi were playing in the Irish League, his attributes would drop simply because he's not on the highest level anymore," Mueller-Moehring told ESPN around the launch of FIFA 17.

A player in a low tier league, due to this, is unlikely to exceed a certain attribute ceiling. There is also no metric for physical attributes since, as Mueller-Moehring concedes, "There are fast and strong players in every league in the world."

It will be interesting to see what FIFA 19's player ratings bring and hopefully, this time around fans of the series get the game on time.  Be it FIFA 16, FIFA 17, or FIFA 18, Amazon India - EA's exclusive retail partner in India doesn't have the best track record with parallel imports beating the e-commerce giant to the punch year on year. Hopefully after three years of FIFA delays, this year's game actually shows up on time.

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