After an almost 30-year relationship, EA has severed ties with the official football (soccer) governing body, FIFA, and will no longer produce branded games. This will happen immediately, with the upcoming FIFA 23 now set to be named EA Sports FC. While that initially raised fears of a los of official names and players in the game, that's been assuaged by EA confirming its existing FIFA deal will expire after the Women's World Cup in 2023.
EA and FIFA have been trying to renegotiate their longstanding deal for some time now, with FIFA reportedly interested in doubling its already $150 million price for official sponsorship. It also wanted its branding on more of EA's products and within FIFA games, which EA ultimately refused. Despite continued attempts to strike a deal, it's fallen through, so now the relationship that began in 1993 will come to an end.
Although there have been many competitor football games over the years, EA's FIFA was a standout for its links to the real world through real player names, official teams, organizations and cups. That will continue in EA Sports FC, and may go on in the future too, as EA has previously signed deals with a number of players, clubs, and leagues, so should maintain licensing for that. They won't be able to use anything official FIFA branded, though, and may need to rename a few things based on that.
The first EA Sports FC should remain much the same as the FIFA 23 it was planned to be, but it will be interesting to see if in the future, EA takes a different approach to its longstanding franchise.
If EA did mix things up with its footbal games in the future, what would you like to see?
