The first FIFA 21 patch of the new year is here. Title Update 8 nerfs down Team Pressing and a couple of Skill Moves, next to fixing a number of bugs in various aspects of the game.
FIFA 21 Title Update 8 is live on PC. Console owners will have to wait a few days as usual. The new patch nerfs down the overpowered Team Pressing and Stepover skill move in an attempt to balance gameplay.
Title Update #8 is now available for the PC (Origin/Steam) version of FIFA 21.The full Title Update notes can be found here https://t.co/3vdinFvHLe https://t.co/y5FjeZdYua
— FIFA Direct Communication (@EAFIFADirect) January 12, 2021
Update from 20.01
Title-Update 8 for FIFA 21 is now available for download on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The changes around team pressing and stepover are finally available in the console version of the sports game. With this update, the changes find their way into the console version of the sports game, which should be clearly noticeable in the upcoming Weekend League.
Title Update #8 is now available for the PS5/XSX|S/PS4/X1 versions of FIFA 21. The full Title Update notes can be found here https://t.co/UzO1ZDoi2T https://t.co/garLDYobw4
— FIFA Direct Communication (@EAFIFADirect) January 19, 2021
FIFA 21 Title Update 8
Among the lesser changes in the patch, yet still somewhat interesting, are the removal of pause limits in Squad Battles Co-Op. Also, each player can now pause the game at any time. You will also not be able to see your opponent's equipped Ball in online matches anymore. You'll be resigned to your own balls.
Of course, what we really care about, are gameplay changes. There are a few alterations made to both Team Pressing and the Stepover skill move that takes a lot of the otherworldly power of these tactics.
Team Press D-Pad is now effective just 15 seconds instead of 20, then it goes into cooldown. It also takes two seconds before the press goes into effect after being activated by the player. Finally, if you recover the ball via team pressing and lose it afterwards, the press won't activate automatically.
The Stepover and Reverse Stepover skill moves have been slowed down and have been removed from the "easy skills" category. That last bit makes them less effective when chained together.
This is in our opinion a nice way of limiting the effects of two overused parts of the gameplay, but there are also a ton of bugs EA Sports needed to take care of. To see all of those, read the full Title Update 8 patch notes.
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Original article by EarlyGame's Philipp Briel.
