The ultimate FIFA 23 pre-order guide

We already know FIFA 23 will be the final installment in EA Sports’ FIFA series. Keeping with past years’ tradition, the game is releasing in several versions: the Standard Edition, the Ultimate Edition, and the Legacy Edition. What are the pros and cons of each and how much do they cost? Is it worth buying the Ultimate Edition? Got any discounts? Our FIFA 23 pre-order guide will help you through the surprisingly convoluted process.

FIFA 23 pre-orders are open. If you want to have the final FIFA title in your video game library, you can tie the knot right now by pre-ordering it. No need to wait for the official release. Things aren’t that simple, however, and there are many things you need to know before committing to that purchase.

What FIFA 23 editions are there?

FIFA 23 Standard Edition

Let’s begin with the basics. The Standard Edition is actually not 100 percent vanilla. You’ll get the FIFA 23 base game, obviously, but there are some pre-order bonuses included in the deal:

• An untradeable FUT TOTW 1 player
• Five-game Kylian Mbappé Loan Item
• Three-game FUT Ambassador Loan Player Pick
• Career Mode homegrown talent

If these items aren’t enough to get you on the pre-order menu, perhaps you’ll be more interested in an upgraded deal.

FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition

The Ultimate Edition comes with everything the Standard Edition has to offer and more. The additional items include the following:

• Three days of early access
• 4,600 FIFA points to be used in FUT
• An untradeable Ones To Watch item
• Dual entitlement (upgrade a PS4/Xbox One copy of FIFA 23 to current gen for free)

If the Ultimate Edition still doesn’t seem juicy enough, we’re sorry to say you’re not going to find a better offer, despite there being one more version of FIFA 23 we need to go through.

FIFA 23 Legacy Edition

The third and final option is limited to Nintendo Switch users and it’s one that made the Nintendo community a little bit mad. The FIFA 23 Legacy Edition is more a FIFA 22 update than it is a new game. What Switch users are getting are updated rosters and licenses, without any of the gameplay improvements.

How much does FIFA 23 cost?

Here’s where the deals really start taking shape. Pre-order bonuses are cool and all, but what about the cost? Once again, it’s not that simple, since the price isn’t the same for everyone. The FIFA 23 Standard Edition is listed at $69.99 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Owners of a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One enjoy a small discount and can acquire the game for $59.99.

The Ultimate Edition is much more straightforward with its pricing. If you want it, you have to dish out $99.99. The sole exception is the Stadia version, which also has a $10 discount that drops it to a $89.99 price tag. Nintendo Switch users can obtain the Legacy Edition for $39.99.

Are there any FIFA 23 discounts available?

There is a way to buy FIFA 23 at a lower price than regular. Several ways, actually. The first one is the simplest—through deals at your local stores. Those are unlikely at launch, but you never know. If you want to be certain that you will get a discount, however, EA Play is the way to go.

As a regular member, you receive an automatic 10-percent price reduction on anything you buy on the EA Play dashboard. That would include any version of FIFA 23 and all FIFA points purchases. At just $4.99 a month, you are guaranteed to save a few bucks even if your only desire is to buy FIFA 23. Subscribe, get the game at a discount, unsubscribe after a month, and profit.

Going a step further and upgrading to EA Play Pro would result in the ultimate discount. That’s right, you won’t pay a dime. Pro members get the Ultimate Edition automatically, without additional pay. There’s even a small increase in the allocated FIFA points: 4,800 instead of 4,600. Considering the yearly cost for EA Play Pro is $99.99, if you’re hellbent on buying the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition, it probably makes sense to just go Pro for a year. Keep in mind that you don’t actually own the game that way, so if you cancel your subscription, FIFA 23 will be saying bye-bye.

The last official guaranteed discount is given to returning FIFA 22 players. For once, everything is short and simple: if you have FIFA 22 in your EA account, you get 10 percent off on your FIFA 23 purchase.

Which FIFA 23 edition should you buy?

Making the right choice here is entirely dependent on what you’re looking for in FIFA 23. If you plan to go hard at FUT all season long, our recommendation is to go through the EA Play Pro method. We assume you’d want the Ultimate Edition in that scenario, so paying the same price for a yearly subscription that you would for just the game makes a lot of sense. More arguments for this are that you would be able to buy FIFA points cheaper and that you may not be that interested in continuing to play FIFA 23 beyond its FUT season. If you do, there’s always the option to buy the game at any given time during the subscription period, again at 10 percent off.

If FUT is not your main FIFA dish, then it’s probably wiser to either pre-order the Standard Edition or simply wait it out and see if EA’s latest product is to your liking post-launch. Career Mode homegrown talent is the only perk to pre-ordering the Standard Edition if we take out FUT content. You decide if it’s enough to lure you in.

Pre-order or not, this being the final FIFA title is almost enough reason on its own for every fan of the series to give FIFA 23 a spin. People are sentimental, what can you do? The worldwide release date is Sept. 30, 2022. Mark that on the calendar, repeat “it’s in the game” in your head until then, and hope EA gives this legendary series a proper send-off.