FIFA World Cup 2010 arrives late April

The 2010 FIFA World Cup doesn't start until host country South Africa takes on Mexico June 11, but Electronic Arts won't wait that long to get its interactive adaptation on store shelves. The publisher has confirmed that FIFA World Cup 2010 will debut in North America on April 27 and in Europe and Asia on April 30.

As with each new FIFA game, the publisher is touting a laundry list of changes to make the game more realistic. For instance, the game takes the location of each game into greater account, so playing at higher altitudes will fatigue players quicker, while some squads will play significantly better on home fields.

The online play experience has also been a focus for the game's developers, who hope to make the online tournaments match up players exclusively against human opponents. Considering there are 199 nations represented in FIFA (and in the game), EA will also encourage people to use more than just the handful of most powerful squads in the game. Players who go with underdogs like Tahiti or Andorra will earn proportionately more leaderboard points than those leaning on Brazil or Spain.

The latest installment in EA Sports' quadrennial soccer franchise will be arriving on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, and mobile platforms. For more on the litany of tweaks and changes to the game, check out GameSpot Sports' interview with producer Simon Humber.

*This story originally misreported that the opening match of the World Cup 2010 tournament would be Russia-Mexico. GameSpot regrets the error.