EA Sports have announced today a new feature in FIFA Street called the Street Network that will encourage social competition among players when the game launches at retail worldwide on March 13th, 2012 for the PlayStation 3and the Xbox 360.

Through the Street Network, players will be able to capture video of their best tricks and share them in-game with friends, showing off their personal favorites and embarrassing their opponents. In addition, friends will be able to track and compare each other’s progress throughout the game, including World Tour story mode and Head-to-Head Online Seasons, and follow each other’s status in EA SPORTS Football Club.

“Street football is all about the one-on-one battle, when you pull off a trick to roast your opponent,” said producer Sid Misra. “The Street Network brings that real-world swagger into the game by enabling players to capture video of those moments and share them with everyone in their street network to see, and providing friends with a way to compare each other throughout the game.”

In World Tour, where gamers create a team of friends and compete in a connected world against other FIFA Street gamers’ teams, players will be able to follow each other’s status as they build their squads, unlock new tricks, and progress through the story of their journey to street football glory. The Street Network will also broadcast in-game videos like “Goals of the Week”, and alert friends to each other’s accomplishments throughout the game.

Featuring Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi on the cover, fans who pre-order FIFA Street from leading retailers around the world will receive exclusive in-game access to an adidas all-star team featuring Messi and 12 of the greatest footballers in the world. The pre-order offer also includes exclusive access to the Lionel Messi Barcelona venue, an environment inspired by street footballers playing in and around the Plaça de Catalunya in the historic center of Barcelona, that Messi helped design. Fans with EA Sport Season Ticket will get full-game digital access to FIFA Street three days in advance of launch.