Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts, has visibly attacked the FIFA brand, while his company sells millions of football games under this license each year.
It would seem that Andrew Wilson doesn’t really carry the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) brand in his heart anymore. According to an article published by Video Games Chronicle on February 23, the CEO of Electronic Arts recently organized an internal meeting during which he was not kind to the great body of football. It’s a paradox, insofar as, every year for a long time now, the American publisher has filled its bank account thanks to its games… FIFA.
He then weighs the threat of seeing Electronic Arts end the partnership that has bound him to FIFA for 30 years now. Which means that FIFA video games may no longer be called FIFA in the near future. This threat has been hovering for several months now. In October, Electronic Arts already assumed this eventuality of ” cut ties with FIFA and rename its saga “.
“Just four letters”
Andrew Wilson was a priori very virulent with FIFA, even showing a little arrogance towards a historic brand. While recalling that the relationship with FIFA has created an entertainment empire and generated ” billions of dollars “, he thinks : ” Concretely, when there is no World Cup, what we get from FIFA is just four letters on a cover, at a time when people no longer see the cover because they buy the game digitally. »
The interested party implies that associating with FIFA imposes restrictions preventing Electronic Arts from being completely free on the content. He explains : ” Our players are asking us for more brands and cultural elements related to their country…brands like Nike. But as FIFA is linked to Adidas, we cannot. Our players are asking us for more game modes, beyond 11v11 matches. I’ll tell you, it’s a fight to explain to FIFA what we want to create, because they say our license doesn’t cover all. ” Today, FIFA would therefore be seen as a ” obstacle » from which Electronic Arts would like to emancipate itself in order to develop its football simulation more quickly.
There is also a big money story behind it. In October, the New York Times reported that FIFA would claim $2.5 billion from Electronic Arts for the next ten years, double the contract that will end with the World Cup in Qatar. This inflation would be partly due to the additional rights requested by the video game publisher to be more ” creative “.
Will Kylian Mbappé become Alban Mbappin if Electronic Arts ends its relationship with FIFA? Will the Parc des Princes become L’Antre des Rois? Not necessarily. The names of players, stadiums, teams and championships are independent of FIFA. ” We have over 300 other licenses that give us the content our players passionately engage in “, reassures Andrew Wilson. Nevertheless, by changing the name, Electronic Arts would take the risk of tainting an immense heritage. All this to integrate, possibly, a futsal mode (indoor football).