When releasing FIFA 23 last September, EA Sports had already announced that this edition would be the last to include the name of this absolutely historic franchise. After almost 30 years of collaboration with the international football federation – FIFA – EA Sports will however continue to produce the most famous sports game on the planet and probably one of the most iconic, all categories combined.
Why this reversal of the situation announced last May and precipitated by FIFA and above all, what future for EA Sports’ flagship game? Back to the end of an era and undoubtedly the beginning of a new one.
A historic game
Sold in hundreds of millions of editions since the franchise’s inception in 1993, FIFA is a mind-boggling commercial success story that has lasted for decades. The real turning point, however, took place in 1997 with the release of FIFA 98a game that has remained in the annals and still today, dusted off by the ultimate FIFA player.
Latest FIFA license
Over the past decades, FIFA has undergone great changes and recently, the game has also become one of the most popular in the era of eSports on a global scale. This also explains the large investments made by most soccer clubs Europeans in this video game field in recent years.
However, EA Sports no longer seemed fully satisfied with the guarantees left free by the FIFA brand license. With a financial agreement announced around the billion dollars for a cycle of four years, the price is, according to the publisher, not the only explanation for the separation with this historic franchise. For fans of the game, it might even be beneficial.
Caption: Habits should stay the same
A new name for new features
Nowadays, EA Sports’ FIFA game has frequently been criticized for its lack of modernity and, above all, its delay compared to other franchises that have become flagships. like NBA 2K for basketball or Madden for American football. Following the explanations of the publishing house, we understand above all that this deficiency was due to FIFA and not necessarily to the lack of ambition of the developers.
Wishing to develop new functionalities for several years and in particular since the contract signed in 2012, American society has often been held back by the powerful world federation.
The new EA Sports FC should therefore be worth a look with almost unimaginable things about the previous franchises. Development different from an arcade mode? Further simulation? Integration of augmented or virtual reality? EA Sports will untie its hands and the current development has probably removed a lot of monotony from developers based in California and also within the other studios of the video game company.
The creation of internal content to the game will most certainly be part of the novelties according to the words of David Jackson, the vice-president of EAS.
If it will really be necessary to wait for the release of this opus to form a well-defined opinion, EA Sports seems confident about its strengths and if successful, this loss could be major for FIFA.
Maintained partnerships
EA Sports will therefore no longer have the opportunity to take advantage of the FIFA license, but do not panic for those who are necessarily looking for a football game with official licenses since EA Sports had already announced many partnerships last May.
By partnering with more than 20,000 professional footballers, but above all with 700 teams and already 30 championships, including the Premier League, EA Sports will make sure to attract new purists. Moreover, the announced contract with UEFA will undoubtedly ensure the presence of official European competitions within the opus. This is almost a snub to FIFA, but EA Sports FC is making sure to perpetuate a great story that will celebrate its 30th anniversary in the weeks to come…