FIFA 21 Will Remove Some Celebrations And Reduce Stalling Online

FIFA 21 is looking to combat online player toxicity by removing certain celebrations and and shortening or removing cutscenes, so that your opponent cannot showboat too hard when they get a goal or stall for time. According to a report from Eurogamer, various measures are being taken to improve the overall online experience.

Two celebrations, the "shush" and "a-ok", will be removed. The "shush" is simply irritating--as it's a running celebration, often used to extend the cutscene and annoy opponents--but the "a-ok" has more sinister implications, as the "okay" symbol has turned into a racist symbol (and was recently removed from Call of Duty.)

Some cutscenes are being reduced or removed, too--FIFA 21 will no longer have the "walk back" cinematic after scoring a goal online, which will reduce the time spent watching cutscenes. Animations for players grabbing the ball for a throw-in or the keeper getting ready for a goal-kick are also gone from online matches. Goal celebrations are being shortened across the board, too.

The ability to "time waste" is also being addressed. Whereas in FIFA 20, players had a full 30 seconds to complete actions during set-pieces, those times are now greatly reduced. Kick-off now gives you 10 seconds, 12 seconds for throw-ins, 15 seconds for goal kicks, and 20 for free kicks.

Lead gameplay producer Sam Rivera told Eurogamer that all of these changes came from player feedback, and should lead to games that flow better. "All together the intention there is just to keep you playing instead of doing other things that may not be necessary in the game," he said.

FIFA 21 is coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC on October 6, alongside the Switch Legacy Edition. The game is also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, and you'll be able to get a free upgrade if you buy the previous-gen release on the right console (PS4 for PS5, Xbox One for Xbox Series X).

For more on FIFA 21, check out GameSpot's gameplay preview of the upcoming football game.