The Boleyn Ground is to be immortalised for the first time in the FIFA video game series - just two years before the real-life stadium is set to be redeveloped into housing.
As part of a renewed licensing agreement with the Premier League, FIFA 15 creator EA Sports will include all 20 team stadia, with attention to detail extending to "authentic" fan chants and animated advertising boards.The company was given access to the Boleyn in order to build a realistic recreation, it said, which includes capture of the 'ambience' of the ground during match days. The club's famous anthem, 'Bubbles', was added to the game last year.
Beyond the 15/16 season, when the ground is set to be redeveloped into a number of new homes and retail facilities, the virtual Boleyn will represent fans' only option to revisit the stadium as they remember it.
In addition to new stadia, the FIFA 15 development team claims to have scanned the players of every Barclays Premier League club to capture their likeness, with over 200 new player heads promised for FIFA 15.
Game-playing West Ham United fans in particular stand to benefit from the deal, as the club was previously lumped in the generic 'Forest Park' arena, with a squad of players which often looked nothing like their real-life counterparts.
FIFA 15 will release on September 26 in the UK on PC, Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.
FIFA 15 will also release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, although it's not yet clear if these versions will include the stadia and Premier League updates.
FIFA 15: How the Boleyn Ground will look in the game
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