If you are a gaming fan and love sports, in this case, soccer, then you no doubt have a healthy addiction to FIFA. The game, in all its annual iterations, is one of the most successful gaming franchises ever, but lovers of the series may see quite a change on the horizon.
EA Sports, the video game company that makes FIFA, has split from the football federation, and by all accounts, this is chiefly due to the fact that EA feels it no longer needs to maintain the relationship with the governing body that represents world soccer.
The success of the FIFA series has been especially evident in the eSports market; indeed, the growth of the action means you can even place real money wagers on pros who play the game; New Yorkers can look to find a relevant sports book at sports-betting-ny.com and the eSports betting industry is getting a great deal of traction in the United States specifically where the FIFA gaming series has helped to further assist soccer in its endeavor to push up with the four big sports leagues stateside (NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL).
The FIFA series first started back in 1993, and it’s believed a total of over 325 million copies of the game have been sold since then and it is considered a gold standard in terms of sporting simulations and one that has been enjoyed by generations of gamers.
The deal between EA and FIFA, surprisingly, doesn’t involve any licenses, and as such, the gaming behemoth can continue to make a game just like FIFA, only with a different name and given that a large part of the game is not based around FUT (FIFA Ultimate Team) there is even less need to be directly tied to the organization.
FIFA is said to have asked for $300 million in their latest deal with EA, a doubling of the last deal struck, and EA decided to walk away from the partnership.
This move has seemingly been on the card, and EA Sports general manager Cam Weber has openly made this clear;
‘As we look ahead, we’re also exploring the idea of renaming our global EA Sports soccer games,’
‘This means we’re reviewing our naming rights agreement with Fifa, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world.’
FIFA is now free to open a partnership with other gaming entities, but EA Sports are no doubt confident that they can see off any potential competitor due to the fact that after almost 30 years in the market, they have the kind of reach that makes them almost impenetrable from a business perspective.
The new game could be titled EA Sports FC and is sure to continue the success of the series, with the final installment of the series likely to be FIFA23.
EA Chief Executive Andrew Wilson sees the rebranding as a chance to further its grip on the sports simulation market;
“Our vision for EA Sports FC is to create the largest and most impactful soccer club in the world, at the epicenter of soccer fandom,”
“For nearly 30 years, we’ve been building the world’s biggest football community – with hundreds of millions of players, thousands of athlete partners, and hundreds of leagues, federations, and teams. EA Sports FC will be the club for every one of them and for football fans everywhere.” Wilson added.