FIFA 16 Demo Hits 6.4 Million Downloads

The FIFA 16 demo released earlier this month was downloaded 6.4 million times across all platforms, representing a new record for a FIFA demo, Electronic Arts announced today. That figure was achieved in the 10 days following its release on September 8.

By comparison, last year's FIFA 15 demo was downloaded 5.5 million times, which was a record at the time for any EA Sports game. This year's demo was available on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as well as PC.

FIFA 16's demo also included a sneak peek at the game's new Ultimate Team Draft mode--and it was popular. Combined with figures from the free EA Access trial version of FIFA 16, gamers played more than 13 million matches before the game was even released publicly on September 22.

GameSpot's FIFA 16 review scored the professional soccer game a 9/10.

"FIFA needed a year like this. Without serious competition from Konami's PES in the past few years (until now), and with Ultimate Team keeping players playing and paying all year round, there's been no pressing motivation to ring the changes," we wrote in our review. "Annual titles will always evolve gradually, but recent progress has felt glacial. FIFA 16 can be stubborn and stifling, but it feels gloriously new, and having to learn fresh strategies and nuances in a game series like this is an almost-forgotten pleasure."

For more on the critical reception to FIFA 16, check out this review roundup.