In June, EA Sports revealed that the upcoming installment of the successful FIFA video game franchise is going to feature The Journey, the first story mode that will make players feel as though they really are the rising football sensation in the game.

The Journey is being promoted as the narrative that would enable players to experience what it’s like to be in the Premier League. However, more than the excitement the prospect of being part of the top league in the English football league system brings, the developers want the story mode to tell the story of young footballers who managed to make names for themselves.

Speaking of young footballers, “FIFA 17” lead producer Garreth Reeder recently had the chance to speak with Game Reactor at Gamescom 2016 to shed more light on the new story mode. During the interview, Reeder even revealed the football players who inspired the storylines of The Journey.

“I’ve wanted to deliver that player experience of becoming a footballer and living that life and seeing what life is like off the pitch ... We knew we didn’t have all the experience needed to do that, so we brought in a lot of new people to the team who had worked on there … We worked with some amazing writers to bring that authenticity, and we also worked with some players, so Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford who had gone through some of those experiences in their own lives,” Reeder said.

Acknowledging the abrupt rise to fame of Rashford, Reeder revealed that they were actually in communication with the 18-year-old Manchester United forward when he was younger. He also said the same thing about Kane, who has been with different clubs before becoming what he is today. The “FIFA 17” producer noted that the experiences of the two players are embedded in the storylines, so players should watch out for those when they play The Journey.

Reeder, who claims that “FIFA 17” is the best installment EA Sports has ever made for the franchise so far, admitted that the focus of the upcoming video game is the youth because they really wanted the game to “be about that next generation of footballers.” In the process, they worked with young ambassadors who are still in their prime as professional football players — all are listed on the official EA Sports website. The list consists of Kane, Rashford, James Rodriguez, Anthony Martial, Eden Hazard, Dele Alli, Reece Oxford and Marco Reus, who is also on the cover of “FIFA 17.”

Despite having a realistic approach, Reeder clarified that The Journey is not going to be about any of the players they’ve worked with for the realization of the project. He maintained that the story mode is all about the player because how the player performs, acts and relates to the manager and the teammates will affect the scenes and the context of the story. “We want this to feel like you’re really driving the story,” he quipped.

Just last week, Microsoft announced the Xbox One S FIFA 17 bundles that include special offers. There’s a 500GB hard drive version of the bundle, and the other is a 1TB version that comes with an Ultimate Rare Player Pack. Both bundles are set to arrive on Sept. 22, and they are currently available to preorder on the Microsoft Store.

“FIFA 17” is slated for release on Sept. 27 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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