Why You Can Trust CNET Beats Studio Pro Headphones Get Custom Erling Haaland Treatment in EA Sports' FC 24
In EA's hot new FC 24 video game, your streetwise soccer star can wear Haaland-inspired Viking Beats Studio Pro for extra cachet, and even become a Beats brand ambassador in-game.
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You can't get these Beats Studio Pro headphones in real life -- yet.
Over the years, Beats, which is owned by Apple, has released its headphones and earbuds in a variety of new colors to help freshen them up over their extended product cycles. But for the first time it's entered the video gaming world with a new partnership with EA Sports' FC 24, this year's game in the highly popular soccer franchise -- or football as it's known throughout most of the world -- that until this year carried FIFA branding.
Beats says that users who buy and play FC 24 by Nov. 1 will earn Founder status and receive in-game rewards including a permanent Erling Haaland item in Ultimate Team, as well as a custom pair of digital Haaland-inspired Beats Studio Pro Viking headphones for your character to wear in Volta Football, the street-style mode that has players competing on small pitches. Haaland is a star striker and Beats brand ambassador who plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League. The fearsome Norwegian is on the cover of the standard edition of the game.
I can't say I found the Viking design of the headphone all that eye-catching. It's a black and white affair with "Viking" splayed across the headband. But perhaps in time we'll see different versions of it with a little more color.
Beats notes that coming in December in FC 24's Player Career mode, players will be able to purchase virtual Beats headphones with their in-game salaries to earn Personality Points that elevate their performance in-game. "Further along in their career, players can also become a Beats Ambassador for additional salary and in-game PlayStyles benefits," Beats says, and "in Manager Career mode, players will be able to assign Beats inspired kits to their custom created clubs."
Alas, you can't buy a real-life physical version of the Haaland Viking Beats Studio Pro. The headphones, which launched back in July, come in brown, black, navy and sandstone. They list for $350, but were recently on sale at Amazon for October Prime day for $180 (look for the same deal as we head into Black Friday next month). Read our Beats Studio Pro review here.