Alex Morgan has been selected to appear alongside Lionel Messi on the cover for the U.S. edition of the upcoming game "FIFA 16."
The appearance of the forward for the Portland Thorns FC marks the first time in the game series' history that a female athlete is featured on its cover art.
The tandem of Messi and Morgan will be featured as the cover for the game's version that will be released in the U.S. Aside from Morgan, "FIFA 16" will also feature another female athlete on its cover. Her teammate, Christine Sinclair, will appear with Messi for the game's Canadian edition.
According to game publisher EA Sports, it chose Morgan and Sinclair as the cover stars for the upcoming game due to their achievements in the sport of soccer.
"We actually made the decision to put Alex on the cover several months ago before the Women's World Cup," EA Sports' global product marketing manager David Pekush told Yahoo Sports.
"We knew and we wanted to celebrate women's soccer," he added. "And the fact that the women won the World Cup, it's really icing on the cake for us. We know that in North America, in both the United States and Canada, Women's soccer is a very integral part of soccer culture and it's also helping to grow that sport in North America."
As for Morgan, she told USA Today that being chosen as one of the cover stars for "FIFA 16" is a huge honor because of its social and cultural impact regarding the status of women in professional sports.
EA Sports' decision to feature women's football teams in the upcoming "FIFA 16" is a huge step for the game series. It marks the first time that both genders playing in the professional sport will be featured in the series ever since it was launched more than 20 years ago.
According to EA Sports, it was only able to introduce women's teams in the series after accomplishing the right kind of technological techniques to develop the game. The studio wanted to make sure that the movement and appearance of the virtual female players will accurately match their real-life counterparts.
With the help of motion capture technology, gamers will be able to play as female athletes from 12 Women's National Teams from the U.S., France, England, China, Canada, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Germany, Sweden, Australia and Spain.
"FIFA 16" is scheduled to be released on September 22, 2015. It will be available for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS platforms.
