![]() ![]() Sales of the game, which releases an updated edition every year, have surpassed $20 billion over the past two decades for its California-based maker, Electronic Arts. To millions of people around the world, the letters FIFA now represent not actual soccer but instead a one-word shorthand for the hugely popular video game series that has become a fixture in the lives of players as diverse as Premier League pros, casual fans and even gamers with no other relationship to the sport. Nearly three decades after soccer’s global governing body licensed its name to a California video game maker looking to expand its offerings, the FIFA series that was born out of that partnership has become not so much a game as a cultural phenomenon. FIFA 23, FIFA 24, FIFA 25 and FIFA 26, and so on - the constant is the FIFA name and it will remain forever and remain THE BEST.It is one of the longest and most profitable relationships in sports. “The FIFA name is the only global, original title. "I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans,” says president Gianni Infantino. The first of these is a non-sim game, to be released following the Qatar World Cup. Not only that, it’s switching to a non-exclusive model which means different dev teams working on an assortment of titles under the FIFA banner. FIFA has already released a statement to confirm that the FIFA series will continue, under the helm of a developer other than EA. Does EA Sports FC mean there won’t be a FIFA 24?Īmazingly, no. With EA able to sit its own rules rather than placate football’s governing body, we may finally see Creation Centre return in EA Sports FC. Fans haven’t stopped clamoring for its return, though. Four million were built in the first year alone, but the feature never made the leap from PS3 to PS4, or Xbox 360 to Xbox One. In FIFA 11, EA launched a Creation Centre which enabled the community to make its own teams and players in an online browser, then import them into the games. There’s more of a precedent for Jackson’s hint regarding creativity. Regular highlights packages of football across the globe might be achievable, though. So finding a uniform broadcast model in-game would be tough. For instance, you can view Premier League matches kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday in most parts of the world - but not in their home country England. It’s natural to wonder whether EA may bid against the likes of Sky and Amazon for live matches, although these are a midfield. Jackson’s quote suggests that may change. One thing we’ve never been able to do in FIFA games is watch real football. The two especially intriguing words there are ‘watching’ and ‘creating’. “Under the licensing conventions that we agreed with FIFA ten years ago, there were some restrictions that weren’t going to allow us to build those experiences for players.” ![]() Soon, watching and creating content are going to be equally as important for fans,” he says. “At the moment, we engage in play as a primary form of interactive experience. The key piece of intel we have so far is a quote from EA Sports vice-president David Jackson. In the wake of the EA Sports FC announcement, I wrote a detailed piece on how it may differ from FIFA 23. This could be the perfect opportunity, therefore, to finally include a female version of Ultimate Team. In fairness it was a trendsetter in this regard, introducing international teams back in FIFA 16. This reset is a real chance to win fans over, with full clarity on your chances of packing a particular player or club item.ĮA Sports FC also offers the chance to widen its appeal to female gamers, and broaden its suite of women’s teams in the game. Controversy has stalked the FIFA series, with accusations of Ultimate Team promoting gambling, for more than half a decade. We’re talking new card types, and hopefully clearer pack probabilities. It’ll be front and center of EA Sports FC for many years.Įven so, EA is likely to want to make a major statement with Ultimate Team in its first post-FIFA outing. FUT made $1.62 billion in revenue between March 2020 and April 2021. Hence it appears in other EA games, such as Madden 22 and NHL 22, since it debuted in FIFA 09. ![]() The IP for Ultimate Team belongs to EA alone, and FIFA has no claim to it. ![]()
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