Immersed in The Journey, fans will live their story on and off the pitch as Premier League prospect, Alex Hunter who is looking to make his mark. Fans will visit new football worlds, meet new characters full of depth, and navigate emotional highs and lows of their unique story arc through decisions off the pitch, their performance on it, and character interactions throughout the 2016/17 season while playing for any of the 20 Premier League clubs.

From a paternal lineage of pro footballers, Alex Hunter starts building his personal legacy in FIFA 17.

Over the past two weeks, fans have voted on the official FIFA Cover Vote Website for their favorite player among four FIFA 17 ambassadors, James Rodriguez of Real Madrid C.F., Anthony Martial of Manchester United, Eden Hazard of Chelsea FC, or Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund. Fans cast over 3.1 million votes, with Reus emerging as the victor.

Reus is a highly-decorated winger, and is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous attackers in Europe. Reus was named Footballer of the Year in Germany in 2012, and has 29 appearances with the German National Team. Reus was also recently named captain of Dortmund, and will be wearing the captain’s armband in the coming season.

“It is incredible to see how fans get behind their favorite player – Marco plays for a great club, is really fun to watch, and he is very popular in FIFA Ultimate Team, so it makes a lot of sense that the fans picked him,” said Nick Channon, Senior Producer for EA SPORTS FIFA. “Reus joins an elite group of international football superstars who have appeared on the cover of FIFA over the years.”

“I’m honored to join a very distinguished group of footballers to appear on the cover of FIFA,” said Reus. “Most of all I am humbled that the fans have chosen me, and I will strive to make them proud with my performance on the pitch.”

All four players featured in this year’s cover vote are global ambassadors for FIFA 17 and influenced key gameplay features to bring innovation to the way players think and move, physically interact with opponents, take set pieces, and use new techniques in attack. Reus serves as the face of the new Active Intelligence System, which impacts off the ball activity and the way players move, read and react.

Complete innovation in gameplay transforms the way players think and move, physically interact with opponents, and execute in attack, putting fans in control of every moment on the pitch. Thousands of new animations and a focus on technology enable FIFA 17 to deliver true-to-life action, balanced gameplay, and excitement in attack. Four pillars of gameplay combine to put complete control in fans' hands by introducing new game mechanics.

• Set Piece Rewrite - New penalties, free kicks, corners, and throw-ins bring creativity and variety in every dead ball situation.
• Physical Play Overhaul - U.S. Patent-Pending Pushback Technology changes the way players physically interact in every situation and introduces a new shielding system that gives fans more control when in possession or battling to win the ball.
• Active Intelligence System - A brand new intelligence system gives players the ability to better define and classify space to make smarter decisions off the ball. Players will utilize several New Run Types like fake, direct, and stunted runs to stay even more active off the ball.
• New Attacking Techniques - New options in attack give fans more ways to create chances and finish in front of goal. Send teammates in with a Threaded Through Passand put exciting goals away with a Driven Finish or Downward Header.

"Fans want control; they want authenticity; and they want a balanced and exciting game that delivers moments where they jump out of their seat and make their friends watch the replay," said Aaron McHardy, Producer. "We took the opportunity of introducing a new engine to look at everything we could do to deliver those moments - we ended up identifying four big areas where we could introduce a level of control we were never able to achieve before."