[1] It is the 28th installment in the FIFA series, and was released on 9 October 2020 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Ultimate Team features 100 icon players, including 11 new names: Eric Cantona, Petr Čech, Ashley Cole, Samuel Eto'o, Philipp Lahm, Ferenc Puskás, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Davor Šuker, Fernando Torres, Nemanja Vidić, and Xavi all feature as icons for the first time.

In January 2019, EA agreed to stop selling FIFA points in Belgium, following government pressure.

[5] Similarly, a Dutch judge decided that EA should be fined €0.5 million per week until the loot boxes were removed.

Elland Road, home of Leeds United, was not originally included in the game despite the club achieving promotion to the Premier League.

EA stated that this was due to the season being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant there was insufficient time for it to be included at launch.

[17] The Riazor, home of Deportivo de La Coruña, didn’t appear in FIFA 21 due to the club’s relegation to Segunda B.

[18] In November 2020, Zlatan Ibrahimović announced he is not pleased with usage of his likeness by EA Sports in its games, especially FIFA 21 and intends to take legal actions against the developer.

[19] Claiming that he didn't personally authorize EA Sports to use his likeness he was joined by Gareth Bale and also started to receive support from as many as 300 other players.

[20] FIFA 21 was released worldwide on 9 October 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

On 21 September 2020, the FIFA Twitter account explained their reasoning on not releasing a demo, saying they would focus on their "best full game experience for current and next-gen consoles".

[24] In July 2020, Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé was announced as the cover star of the all three editions.

[25][26] Erling Haaland, Trent Alexander-Arnold, João Félix, Sam Kerr, Wu Lei, Javier Hernández, and Carlos Vela were announced as the official ambassadors of the game.

[27][28] The FIFA Next ambassadors, a curated list featuring the emerging talent who embody the meaning of 'Win as One', are Mason Mount, Georgia Stanway, Phil Foden, Mallory Pugh, Steven Bergwijn, Théo Hernandez, Rodrygo, Sergiño Dest, Giovanni Reyna, Bruno Guimarães, Hwang Hee-chan, and Aaron Connolly.

[28][29][30] It is the first game in the series to feature neither Martin Tyler nor Alan Smith as English-language commentators since FIFA 06.