FIFA 22 Title Update #1: Goalkeeper nerf, Joe Cole FUT Hero fix, more

FIFA 22 is getting its first big update, with a number of big changes coming to goalkeepers, as well as a huge amount of box fives across different game modes including Ultimate Team, Career Mode and Volta.

On the goalkeeping front, there is both a (small) buff and a nerf in store for them.

First the buff, goalkeepers will get new animations that will be able to better save high finesse shots. A member of the Player First Operations team, explains:

"We’ve seen that goalkeepers have sometimes struggled against finesse shots that send the ball high into the air. As a result, goalkeepers reacted to this type of shot in a less football authentic fashion."

They added by saying, "What this change does is arm goalkeepers with new animations that can be used when the goalkeeper is determining how to react to a high finesse shot. Keepers will now be able to react in ways that are closer to real-life football when they see a high finesse shot coming at them."

In terms of nerfs, goalkeepers will no longer be able to so easily save powerful shots taken within their box.

The Player First Operations team said: "We’ve seen that goalkeepers can sometimes be a little too adept at saving top corner shots from in close, so we’ve reduced their effectiveness trying to save them in order to promote more diversity in goalscoring. As covered in the Title Update notes, this will apply to shots within 37 feet/11.27 meters of the keeper, taken from inside of the penalty box."

The following video is how the goalkeeper would react before the change:

After the update, the following is more likely to happen:

For the full patch notes -- and be warned, they are very long -- check them out below.

FIFA 22 Title Update #1 - Full Patch Notes

Made the following changes:

FIFA Ultimate Team

• Updated Division Rivals Progress tile UI to improve readability and clarity.
• Players will begin their walkout animation slightly later when opening or previewing a Pack with a walkout Player Item.
• Tifos can now be seen in the Stadium while a match is paused.
• Tifos can now be seen during additional pre-match scenes in Squad Battles and Friendlies.
• When obtaining Stadium Items or Bundles from the FUT Store, a pop-up message will now inform players if one or more of the Items is for a Stadium customization slot that needs to be unlocked via Objectives.
• When previewing a kit Stadium Item or a Stadium Item Bundle containing a kit, a goalkeeper wearing the aforementioned kit is now present beside the outfield player.

Addressed the following issues:

• The FUT Champions Play-Offs post-match screen did not always correctly display the total points and Rank.
  • This is a visual issue only, and the correct Play-Offs progression was and continues to be available on the Play-Offs progression screen.
• Addressed an issue with FUT Hero Joe Cole’s Player Item, and the inability to enter a match while the Item was present in the Squad.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/7Oub63CD
• After qualifying for the FUT Champions Finals, the Play-Offs rewards screen displayed an incorrect number of Finals qualifications. This was a visual issue only.
  • Finals qualification provides one entry into the competition, and the correct information continues to be displayed when rewards are previewed on the Play-Offs Progression screen.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/wcVRGSf3
• When listing an item on the FUT transfer market, if the Starting Price was one increment lower than the Buy Now Price, players may have received an error blocking the item from being listed on the transfer market.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/hAsLE17o
• The Division Rivals main menu window did not display the player’s current placement when stating that the player’s rewards were ready to be claimed. This was a visual issue only.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/GYv4WMXi
• The augmented reality presentation overlay did not show the correct scoreline when appearing after a successful penalty kick in extra time.
• When displaying the opposition squad during offline Friendly match loading, the Squad Rating and Chemistry UI elements did not display correctly.
• Quick Sold Kit Items were sometimes not being removed from the Club and could have been Quick Sold again, but for 0 FUT Coins.
• After completing a Division Rivals match, the button callout for the in-game friends list could disappear until re-entering Rivals.
• Some sound effects did not play correctly during post-match scenes in Division Rivals and FUT Champions.
• Swapped players were flickering during a FUT Friendlies Swaps match.
• Improved visibility of the wins counters that displays in the Division Rivals post-match flow.
• Improved visibility of the New Division text that displays in the post-match flow when being promoted to a new Division in Division Rivals.
• The Division Rivals post-match screen could sometimes run slower than intended.
• Following a match loss in Division Rivals, the progress bar could disappear during the post-match flow.
• Some Division Rivals reward status descriptions on the Rivals Progression screen were vaguer than intended. This was a visual issue and did not impact progression.
• When the Competitive Master Switch was turned on, Through Ball Assistance could not be set to Manual if desired.
• Some Badge and Kit Items did not display correctly.
• A stability issue could occur when viewing Crowd Card Items in the Stadium menu.

Gameplay

Made the following changes:

• Reduced the effectiveness of goalkeepers when diving for top corner shots taken from inside of the penalty box.
  • This change specifically applies to shots taken within 37 feet/11.27 meters of the goalkeeper.
• Improved the frequency of player-controlled sliding blocks making contact with a travelling ball.
• Updated the defensive logic for players near the halfway line when defending a counterattack that originated from a corner situation.
  • Defenders near the halfway line will now attempt to more closely mark the counter-attacking players.
• Added goalkeeper animations that could occur when a keeper is attempting to save a high finesse shot.
  • This change is intended to provide more authentic looking goalkeeper reactions and very slightly increases the effectiveness of goalkeepers saving this type of shot.
• Updated the defensive logic for players near the halfway line when defending a counterattack that originated from a corner situation.
  • Defenders near the halfway line will now attempt to more closely mark counter-attacking.
• Improved the frequency of player-controlled sliding blocks making contact with a travelling ball.
• Widened the area where the reticle can be placed during free kicks in order to allow for more control over spin and general placement.
• In Co-Op matches, Player Lock will now be cancelled after the Player Locked player performs a pass, or after their teammate performs a pass to a different player.
• [PS5 Only] Added a new Controller Setting to set desired Adaptive Trigger Resistance.
• Improved referee logic to call more fouls caused by high-velocity tackles.
• Improved referee logic to call for fewer penalty kicks caused by reasonably timed slide tackles.
• Improved referee logic to call more fouls in situations where a player purposefully collides with a goalkeeper that is holding the ball.
• Improved referee logic to call for fewer fouls due to soft physical contact.
• Improved throw in accuracy and target selection.

Addressed the following issues:

• Sometimes, a late Fake Shot request resulted in a pass.
• In rare cases, players could take an unintentionally poor touch.
• In some situations, the ball carrier would not perform the Feint and Exit Skill Move when requested.
• When manually rushing the goalkeeper outside of the penalty box, the keeper could incorrectly attempt to make a save with their hands.
• When attempting to intercept the ball, the intercepting player could sometimes take an unintentionally heavy touch resulting in possession loss.
• Players with a Skill Move rating between one and three will now perform the Bridge Skill Move when requesting a Skilled Bridge Skill Move, instead of performing no Skill Move.
• In some situations, the defending team’s player would momentarily stop moving after the attacking side performed a Lobbed Through Pass.
• When receiving the ball from the air, players could be rarely seen running in place before taking control of the ball.
• When receiving the ball from the air from behind, in some cases, the receiving player would not attempt to take control of the ball while running.
• In rare cases, players could take an unintentionally poor touch.
• After catching the ball near the goal line and falling to the ground with it, the Goalkeeper could sometimes slide on the pitch.
• When a goalkeeper was attempting to punch the ball after a deflected shot, the keeper could attempt to head the ball instead.
• The goalkeeper would sometimes not make an attempt to save the ball following a shot if the shot occurred close to the keeper.
• In some rare scenarios, the goalkeeper would get up too slowly after engaging in a physical contest.
• When attempting a diving save, the goalkeeper could sometimes dive diagonally instead of laterally.
  • This was a visual issue only and addressing it does not change goalkeeper performance in these situations.
• In rare situations, when attempting to move while shielding the ball, the shielding player could leave the ball behind.
• In rare situations, the goalkeeper does not attempt to catch a cross near the goal area.
• In some rare scenarios when a ball was kicked out of play, the incorrect team was given the ball to resume play.
• When playing as a locked player and the match ends in a penalty shootout, the locked player’s Match Rating could unintentionally decrease during the shootout.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/651ZT9ZQ
• When skipping a non-gameplay scene that plays before a goal kick, the input combination could sometimes result in the Come Short or Push Up function being requested.
• Sometimes, fouls were not being called when committed on a player performing a nutmeg or a Bridge Skill Move.
• A penalty kick could have been incorrectly awarded after a well-timed sliding tackle in the penalty box.
• On rare occasions, an incorrect animation could occur after a Skill Move was requested.
• Sometimes, the ball carrier could dribble in a different direction than requested.
• Occasionally, a player could get stuck in a Strafe Dribble animation for longer than intended.
• Sprint Knock Ons could not be requested if the Sprint button configuration was changed.
• The goalkeeper could sometimes perform an incorrect saving animation when attempting to save a header.
• Gameplay could sometimes appear blurry when using the Pro camera.
• PC Only - Attempting to cancel an advantage call had no effect.
• Hair could sometimes appear blurry during gameplay and replays.
• Players could sometimes have a faint dark glow appear around them during gameplay and replays.

Career Mode

Made the following changes:

• Added a Player Growth button callout to the level up screen in Player Career.
• On the team select screen in Player Career, the Board Expectations section has been replaced with the team’s formation.

Addressed the following issues:

• Sometimes, Board Objectives were unintentionally conflicting with one another.
• When simulating matches in Player Career, an unintentionally high amount of performance warnings could occur.
• When jumping to the end result after coming on as a sub in Player Career, player fitness did not display correctly on the post-match screens.
• Adjusted the number of teams that can participate in the Polish Cup.
• Corrected the start date for the A-League.
• Corrected the start date of the Turkish Super Lig.
• The post-match interview button callout was sometimes taking the player to the main hub following a completed match.
• Sometimes, Inbox messages used an incorrect title when addressing the manager.
• Create Your Club generated players and Youth Players were not being given randomized boots.
• Some Training Drills displayed incorrect descriptions.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/0LFvzlkt
• When simulating matches in Player Career, the level up screen would not display after gaining a new level.
• When skipping dialogue in post-match interviews, the microphone could unintentionally shake.
• In Player Career, an incorrect button callout was shown when selecting objectives prior to entering a match.
• Sometimes, players could ask to play in the match despite being injured.
• Youth player kits were always displaying first names.
• The import Avatar pop up was incorrectly appearing when trying to edit the manager after starting the first season.
• Incorrect UI colours are displayed when editing a real player in Player Career.
• Some UI elements overlapped on the Player Growth widget in Player Career.
• The selected team’s kit did not display behind the Player Career main menu.
• Placeholder kits were incorrectly displayed during some pre-match scenes.
• PC Only - The button callout for skipping a pre-match scene could display a mouse icon, even when a controller was connected and being used.
• When disconnecting and reconnecting the controller during a Player Career match, Objectives could stop tracking progress.
• When coming on as a sub in Player Career, the Objectives UI overlay could not be skipped.
• In Player Career, an incorrect email could be repeatedly received when being a member of a national team’s squad.
• International Player Career matches were incorrectly being referred to as league matches.
• In a rare scenario, away matches could incur an unintentionally high cost.
• The News tile is sometimes displayed with harsh lighting.

VOLTA FOOTBALL

Made the following changes:

• VOLTA ARCADE tournaments can now start with a minimum of 2 human players.
• Increased the maximum amount of time that a matchmaking search can last for in VOLTA ARCADE.
• Removed the Driven Lob from Foot Tennis.
  • Requesting a Driven Lob will result in the request for a standard Lob.
• Removed the Welcome To VOLTA ARCADE screen that appeared before every VOLTA ARCADE tournament.
• Updated some lines of text across the UI.

Addressed the following issues:

• In the Disco Lava VOLTA ARCADE party game, Avatars could sometimes get stuck near the edges of the playing field.
• Requesting a High Lob during a round of Foot Tennis could give the other team a point.
• In some situations, the serving Avatar’s teammate would incorrectly move away from the playing area in Foot Tennis.
• The Season progression UI displayed an incorrect progress bar even if no progress was made. This was a visual issue only.
• Some text was cut off on the progression screens following the completion of a VOLTA ARCADE tournament.
• The VOLTA ARCADE Party Game start counter did not always start from three.
• After accepting a game invite from a friend, the lobby took longer to load than intended.
• Goal celebrations were skippable.
• The VOLTA BATTLES match results screen had some misaligned text.
• Some clothing items clashed with long hairstyles.
• Removed the kiosk from the main menu background.
• The Skill Meter could have unintentionally filled up after the ball went out of play.
• The XP progression bar did not display correctly on the post-match screen.
• The post-match screen could sometimes incorrectly refer to the completed match as a tournament win.
• The corners of the Team Keepaway party game were not always in the camera’s field of view.

Pro Clubs

Addressed the following issues:

• After completing a Club Friendly match, the visual overlay detailing the amount of XP earned was not appearing. This is a visual-only issue, players were still earning XP.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/9QRuYxt4
• Custom Tactics presets were not always being correctly applied during Drop In matches.
• When playing a Practice Match, the match could have ended prematurely if the CPU AI made tactical changes.
• The ball trail was not always visible for player-controlled goalkeepers.
• Some equippable celebrations were incorrectly named.
• When customizing AI teammates, the
  Known As field was not being saved.
• Threat indicators were sometimes not displaying during gameplay.
• The Drop In lobby did not display the active voice chat speaker.
• When customizing your Virtual Pro, the Commentary Name UI could display incorrectly.
• Custom kits could incorrectly appear as completely black during gameplay.
• The Brentford Community Stadium was unintentionally made selectable when customizing the Club.
  • This issue is listed on the EA SPORTS FIFA Tracker: https://trello.com/c/B5UGSmws
• Players could not back out of a match search after rapidly readying up multiple times.
• The Match Performance UI element was overlapping with the Mystery Ball UI element during matches.
• A stability issue could occur on the Club Customization screen.

Kick-Off

Addressed the following issues:

• Improved the transition effect when viewing different tabs in Match Facts during Kick-Off matches.
• In Kick Off matches, a player’s second yellow card did not display the correct red card UI indicator on the Events screen.
• The Advantage Settings UI indicator was difficult to read.
• The Connect Online option did not function correctly and returned the player to the Side Select screen.

General, Audio, and Video

Made the following changes:

• Added new songs in EA SPORTS Trax and VOLTA Trax.
• Added 31 star heads.
  • This will only be available following a server update. Please follow @EAFIFADIRECT for updates on when this will be live in-game.
• Added the ability to perform Jul’s celebration to some players.
• Updated the order of players on the Player Performance screen so that Strikers are at the top instead of goalkeepers.
• Updated some broadcast packages, stadia, crowd chants, commentary lines, tifos, UI elements, corner flags, crowds, pre and post-match scenes, goal songs, anthems, badges, ad boards, tutorial overlays, celebrations, non-playable characters, and balls.
• Updated several instances of the UI displaying typos, misaligned text, incorrect visuals, and unintended spacing.

Addressed the following issues:

• When turned off, the Player Based Difficulty Indicator could still display during matches.
• The Player Based Difficulty Indicator could stay on during non-gameplay scenes and could be visible at all times throughout a match.
• The Player Based Difficulty Indicator remained active after being turned off during a match.
• Default Game Plans found in Team Sheets through the Customise menu only had minor Defensive Depth changes between them.
• In Team Sheets, the default Game Plan was having its Defensive Depth overwritten when other Game Plans’ Defensive Depth was adjusted and saved.
• Hairstyles could appear as a different colour than intended depending on lighting conditions.
• Closing and re-opening the title during the Welcome Experience could cause some corrupt audio and lighting to occur.
• FIFA Online Seasons Cup match losses were not being tracked on the stats screen.
• The Fast Build Up and Balanced Offensive tactics displayed incorrect reference animations in Game Plans.
• Updated some visuals and text in the Welcome Experience.
• After entering Career Mode and backing out to the main menu, the main menu did not display the intended visuals.
• Corrected the font used on the FIFA Trainer UI.
• Improved the transition between the Welcome Experience and the full game when playing the title while installing.
• The in-game friends list did not always correctly state the status of an online friend.
• A stat tracking error message could sometimes display upon completing a Co-Op Seasons match, causing Match Facts to not display.
• Parts of the main menu could have stopped displaying correctly after opening the in-game friends list.
• Some character models could appear smaller than their actual size when displaying in menus.
• The Man Of The Match visual indicator did not display on the post-match Player Performance screen.
• EATV videos were not correctly looping in the main menu.
• In some situations, EA SPORTS Trax did not play automatically.
• In-game FIFA Trainer button callouts did not reflect customized button configurations.
• Increased clarity of Quick Subs UI.
• Updated the spacing on the Tournaments Main Menu tile.
• A text description was missing for Player Rotation Right Stick Switching in Controller Settings.
• Some Skill Games displayed an incorrect preview image in the menus.
• Addressed several instances of clashing kit colours.
• Made general stability improvements.
• Addressed a stability issue that could occur when using Dutch commentators.

• Read more: FIFA demanding $1b for naming rights to football series, according to reports

We'll be continuing with more FIFA 22 content and advanced play guides as the season unfold. Make sure to stay tuned to our official page for all the latest breaking news and information.

Featured image courtesy of EA Sports.