‘Some people think it’s live’ – how is the commentary in EA FC 26 put together?

Green apples and honey, ginger and lemon tea.

They may sound like they form the diet of a professional athlete, but they are also the secret weapons of football commentators and co-commentators keeping their voices in perfect condition.

These days, however, they don’t just have to sound their best for real-life games.

Gremlin Interactive’s groundbreaking Actua Soccer in 1995, which featured BBC Sport duo Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking on the mic, was the first football video game to feature a running match commentary, albeit a basic one.

What might have been a gimmick became part of an ongoing quest for realism, evolving over the decades through the long-running Pro-Evo Soccer and Fifa series of games, to EA FC and Konami’s eFootball.

Commentary has become part of the experience of millions of gamers on dozens of different titles down the years, providing a reaction for everything from praise of a glorious goal or – more likely – criticism if you miss an easy chance.

“That’s a terrible shot,” groans Guy Mowbray. “What were they thinking!?” adds Sue Smith, to emphasise exactly how much you messed up.

You might think it is obvious their comments are nothing personal because when those lines were recorded for the EA FC series – currently the world’s most-played football video game – the pair were describing action they have never even seen, to be heard by people in every corner of the planet.

However, it seems many do take it to heart.

“I have had some of my mates’ kids message me randomly going, ‘you just told me off for shooting from 30 yards’ and I am like, ‘what?’,” Smith, who is a regular guest summarising real-life action on Sky’s Soccer Saturday, tells BBC Sport. “Then I realise it is the game.

“It’s the same when I meet strangers, or on social media – it shows the impact of the game, how many people play it, and how immersive it is. I think sometimes people genuinely believe you are in their bedrooms or somehow watching them play live.”

That’s the level of realism that makers Electronic Arts strive for, and is the reason Mowbray and Smith dedicate so much time to making their commentary and co-commentary sound as authentic as possible.

The first edition of the game the pair worked on came out in 2024. They started work on it more than a year earlier, and have been working on it ever since.

Mowbray, who has commentated on the Premier League for Match of the Day since 2004, says working on the game is a “never-ending job”.

“It constantly needs updating – with new names for all the new players, plus new terminology and new features in the game,” he said. “It’s an ever-evolving process and it’s exciting to be part of it because it never stands still.

“The first video game I did the commentary for was the official Champions League game [by Take Two Interactive] for the PlayStation in 2002. I went down to Oxfordshire to record it, and it was very intensive but in three full days I did the entire game.

“Now things are very different. Either recording or doing prep, it is part of my weekly routine – pretty much every week from November all the way through to the start of July. We might have a couple of months where we are not doing anything on it before the next edition comes out, then it starts again.

Together or separately, Mowbray and Smith have recording sessions every few weeks, along with game producer Paul Russell and a sound engineer.

It is all done remotely – even when Mowbray and Smith are working at the same time, he is usually in Leeds and she is in Manchester. Russell is in Canada, and the engineer might be in London.

“It’s amazing how it all comes together with us being so far apart,” Smith said. “It’s great fun when you do them but the sessions can be quite intense, lasting over four or five hours, and our voices have to be perfect.

“There have been times where we have come in and started recording but been told our voice isn’t quite right, and it doesn’t sound the same as it did last time.

“That makes sense, because it has got to sound exactly right within the game. If there is any sort of variation, it would probably sound quite odd, so I have never looked after my voice as much in my entire life!

“I eat a lot of green apples, which are really good for it, and also drink a lot of honey, ginger and lemon teas – anything like that. I’d never thought of it before, when I started doing co-comms for radio and TV, but when I am doing FC it is so precise that you have to make sure everything is right.”

Mowbray has also become much more aware of the condition of his vocal chords.

“Doing this game has taught me so much about how the voice works,” he added. “Now I notice if my voice is different, and I know about the different parts of your throat and chest when you speak.

In order for the game’s commentary to sound as live and as natural as possible, producer Russell says the work of Mowbray and Smith is “not just about recording lines”.

“We are always thinking about what is happening on the pitch,” Russell said. “So, what would a real commentator notice in that moment, and what tone should that moment have?

“From there, we define lots of different match situations – from the biggest goals to the smallest build-up moments and work with our commentators to create multiple natural ways those moments could be described.”

That’s where the work begins for Mowbray and Smith – before they get to the studio.

“Say there is a scenario where a team is crossing the halfway line but we don’t know if it will develop into anything,” Mowbray said.

“So, I might say, ‘oh a promising attack, what could they do from here?’ as a line of commentary to explain that – but we need 10 different ways of doing that, so I will have to think of another nine ways of saying it.

“It can’t be scripted for me because it has got to be in my style and how I would say it in real life, so I have to think of those lines myself. It’s the same for Sue on co-comms – she will need 10 different ways of adding insight or colour too.

Games like Actua Soccer look primitive now compared to the modern era of face-scans and movie-style graphics, and so was the process of adding the first commentary.

When Davies first entered the studio in 1995, any realism was down to him.

“The company behind Actua Software got in touch with my agent,” Davies, speaking to BBC Sport in 2020, explained. “I had really no conception of what they wanted to do, or very little anyway. Then I went to see them and I actually changed the way they wanted to do it.

“I told them you cannot use the same way of identifying the player every time he touches the ball – it has got to be at different levels depending where he is on the pitch, as I would do when commentating normally.

“So I gave them about five different versions of every player’s name, changing the emphasis each time. That probably gave them more work to do but, as a result, it sounded more realistic in my opinion.”

Saying each player’s name in several different intonations has been one of Mowbray’s more repetitive tasks over the past few years too, for use from everything from when they play a two-yard pass on the halfway line to smashing a worldie into the top corner from 25 yards – but his job is much bigger.

Actua Soccer had 704 players – 22 for each of the 32 men’s national teams that were included – but there are more than 20,000 real male and female footballers in FC, with more being added all the time.

While EA do give Mowbray some help here, with part of that process involving AI replicating his voice with his permission for some of the names, it is clear they don’t want to lose his human touch.

“AI has long been part of our development pipeline – from animation to gameplay systems – and continues to support our teams in making better, more responsive football experiences,” EA said. “But when it comes to commentary and content, it’s always a collaboration with our talent – not a replacement.”

Instead, it is real life they turn to for inspiration.

“There have been times when we are, say on a Champions League game, and [Russell] has specifically listened to it to get a feel of how we work together in an actual commentary, because we will try to replicate that rapport in the game. It is the little things like that that really add to the realism,” Smith said.

Like the other English-language commentary pairing in the game – Derek Rae and Stewart Robson – the contributions of Mowbray and Smith involve back-and-forth chats or interruptions just like you would hear in real life.

“With the more chatty, in-game stuff, sometimes I am bouncing off what Guy is saying,” Smith said.

“He doesn’t have to be recording it at the same time as me, but they can play his line to me so I can come in off the back of it, so my levels are the same as his – and vice-versa.”

It is evident how much they both enjoy working on the game – but listening to the end product is apparently not always quite as pleasant.

“I play the game as part of my preparation for my Match of the Day commentaries,” Mowbray said. “I’ve always done that, over many years, and before I began working on it.

“It is a bit of recreation, firstly, and a lot of fun – but it also gets into my head stuff like who plays where for different teams and in what formations.

“What I can’t do now, though, is have my commentary on. Like everyone else who plays it, when I hear the commentator tell me I have done something wrong I think to myself, ‘oh get lost!’ but with me commentating I would literally be telling myself where to go!

“It’s an odd sensation and I thought to myself that it must be psychologically damaging in some ways, so I use Derek instead.

“I know some people who have to listen to me, though. My neighbours have got two young sons – they are not particularly into football but the kids are – and I remember them saying once that every Saturday, particularly at this time of year, it feels like I have moved in.

“The kids will be playing FC all day, then Gladiators comes on and they watch that, then they go back to playing the game again, and then Match of the Day comes on – and their parents are like ‘for goodness sake’.

“So, I can only apologise to anyone else who is in that situation – it’s not my fault, honestly!”