FIFA 22 beta players frustrated with overpowered Goalkeepers

Nathan Warby
FIFA 22 goalkeeper trying to save a shot

EA has opened the doors and let the community try out FIFA 22 in the open beta. But despite all the improvements being added to this year’s game, overpowered goalkeepers are proving to be frustrating for players.

The release of FIFA 22 is right on the horizon, and there’s a boatload of changes heading into the game. Big changes to the likes Ultimate Team and Career Mode have fans excited, and they were eager to hop into the beta to try them out firsthand.

However, not every change has gone down well among the community. In particular, the new way in which goalkeepers are behaving is causing difficulties for some beta players.

FIFA 22 player taking a shot at a goalkeeper

Finding the right balance for goalkeepers has proved to be a tricky business in the FIFA series. Many FIFA 21 players criticized the goalkeepers for being unable to keep out shots their real-life counterparts would stop easily. This led to games finishing with unrealistic scorelines like 6-5 very often.

EA has responded in FIFA 22 with a major rewrite of the goalkeeper AI to make their positioning and decision-making more effective. There’s also a new batch of animations to help them save a wider range of shots from more angles.

Unfortunately, some beta players are concerned this has swung the balance too far in the opposite direction, with stoppers now proving extremely difficult to get past. One user warned that having more than 15 shots to break the deadlock would be commonplace in FIFA 22.

The issue sparked a debate among the community on Reddit. Some agreed that the goalkeepers were too overpowered and noted they would be raising it in the feedback at the end of the trial.

Meanwhile, others felt that it was a positive step after the goal-fests seen last year. They argued the improved goalies are making the game more realistic, and it’s simply a case of adapting to when and where to take shots from.

We’ll have to wait and see whether or not EA tweaks the goalkeepers when the final game launches on October 1 or if this is the way devs intended to game to play.

In the meantime, for more FIFA 22, check out everything we know about the release of the demo and the Heroes cards coming to Ultimate Team.

Image credits: EA

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About The Author

Nathan is a Senior Writer at CharlieIntel. He’s an expert in EA Sports FC, Call of Duty, and Overwatch, as well as superhero games, including Marvel’s Spider-Man. With a master's degree in Magazine Journalism from Nottingham Trent University, he worked as a Trainee Reporter for Derbyshire Live before moving into games media, with bylines at Dexerto, Cultured Vultures, and more. You can contact Nathan by email at [email protected].