Murdered Teenage Footballer Being Added to FIFA 21

Kiyan Prince, a 15 year-old footballer who was murdered in 2006, is being added to FIFA 21 as a player for the club he played for.Prince was a part of the Queens Park Rangers F.C. under-16s team in 2006, but was tragically killed when stepping in to protect a friend from being picked on outside of his school. 15 years on, he is being added to FIFA’s Kick Off and Career modes as a 30 year-old striker for Queens Park Rangers, designed to honour the player he would have become.

EA Sports has created an aged-up likeness of Prince by combining images of him and photographs of his father at 30, and working with Framestore (the studio behind visual effects for multiple Marvel movies, among many other projects). “Advanced AI technology and photo-real illustration” was used to achieve the effect, per a press release.

As for his in-game stats, the press release says: “Kiyan’s stats were built out in collaboration with his dad, his coaches, teammates and friends to help build out his style of play – working off of personal accounts from former teammates and rivals to get precise about Kiyan’s unique balance of speed, skill and pure striker’s instinct to integrate him into the game as faithfully as possible”.

Prince will be available to use in FIFA 21 on PC from today, and from tomorrow, May 19, on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Stadia. No Nintendo Switch release has been announced.

FIFA 21 Ultimate Team will also add Kiyan Prince items, including a Kiyan Prince Foundation Kit, and a Tifo (a visual display in a stadium’s stands) of Prince himself.

All proceeds raised, and all licensing payments from EA and other brands involved, will go directly to the Kiyan Prince Foundation, which aims to support families, and prevent tragedies similar to Prince’s.

Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.