‘We expect ground-breaking new features’: EA acquires ‘realism’ tech for EA Sports FC series

EA has reached an agreement to acquire TRACAB Technologies, “a leader in advanced sports optical tracking and analysis solutions.”

According  to TRACAB, the firm’s technology is able to capture “nearly everything happening on the field or pitch at 60Hz per second, generating 600 million data points per game, including 65 unique data points per player and referee by capturing live skeleton data from 21 joints on each individual body on the pitch, as well as the center of mass and ball tracking, and so much more.”

EA Sport’s football games have used tracking technology for years in order to replicate the real-world movement of players in-game, but this appears to take the level of tracking to a higher level.

For example, in recent years, EA has touted that it was able to scan footage of real-life Manchester City matches in order to replicate Norwegian striker Erling Haaland’s unique running style.

It’s unclear if this technology will be implemented in this year’s game, EA Sports FC 26, which is expected to be released at the end of September.

“Data is at the center of every meaningful advancement in the world of sports today, and as EA Sports leads the future of interactive sports experience through the use of more and more real-world data, and TRACAB will bring more best-in-class capture and data technologies directly into our portfolio,” said Cam Weber, president of EA Sports.

“As we continue to evolve our EA Sports experiences into living, breathing simulations of sport, we expect TRACAB’s cutting-edge technology and expertise in live event data combined with our game engine to also accelerate groundbreaking new features in the EA Sports App.”