EA removes two FIFA 21 goal celebrations to help reduce 'toxic behaviors'

A Eurogamer report says that as part of its effort to combat toxicity in its FIFA games, Electronic Arts has decided to cut two goal celebrations—Shush and A-Ok—from the upcoming FIFA 21.

Shush has been a problem because, as a running celebration, players could waste time (and annoy opponents) by jogging around the field while using it. The reason for the removal of A-Ok, which was only added last year, is less clear, but it's built around the same "OK" gesture that that Activision recently removed from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone because of its recent connection to white supremacy movements.

"We were told by the community that there's toxic behaviors in the game and we wanted to make sure we removed them. So we removed some of the celebrations that people thought were not the best idea to have in the game," lead gameplay producer Sam Rivera said.

"The flow is shorter, which is to try to keep you playing most of the time instead of just waiting. All together the intention there is just to keep you playing instead of doing other things that may not be necessary in the game."

Other changes aimed at reducing bad behavior in FIFA 21 include a reduction in the amount of time players can spend in kickoffs, throw-ins, goal kicks, and other specific events. Some animations will also skip automatically when the ball goes out of play during online matches. EA said that other changes aimed at reducing toxicity in online FIFA matches are also likely to happen.

FIFA 21 is set to come out on October 9, but will be available three days early for anyone who preorders the Ultimate or Champions Edition. Origin Access Premier subscribers can jump into the trial version of the game beginning on October 1.