Building the ultimate 'FIFA 17' team costs $625: Report

The popular FIFA-branded soccer game franchise returned at the end of September in the form of "FIFA 17", and one publication now estimates it'll cost an extra £508 GBP (approximately $625 USD) to assemble the best set of simulated sportsmen within the game's digital card collecting mode.

FIFA Ultimate Team has been part of the annual "FIFA" franchise since 2012 when it was first introduced. Players are encouraged to compete against each other in a digital card game that is based on real-world athletes.

Those soccer stars' cards can be collected either through buying blind packs from publisher Electronic Arts, which takes a cut either way, or by trading with other players for specific cards, and the Ultimate Team model is frequently mentioned by EA as a source of significant revenue in its quarterly briefings.

For "FIFA 17," British publication GamesRadar+ has worked out how much it would cost a single person to put together the ultimate Ultimate Team.

Manchester United's Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea is the only player not based in Spain, with the rest of the team featuring six Barcelona players, including a £143.06 Lionel Messi card, and four Real Madrid stars, including a £197.85 Cristiano Ronaldo.

The site used the PlayStation 4 version of "FIFA 17" and conducted its research in Pound Sterling, "as US Dollar prices within [FIFA Ultimate Team] vary."