FIFA and EA will part ways after 2022.
Game over for the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and EA (Electronic Arts) partnership as they did not extend their contract after 2022.
One of the most popular and profitable games in the world, won't be named after soccer's global organizing body for the first time since the series debuted nearly 30 years ago. After many months of negotiations, FIFA and EA were unable to arrive at a decision that would extend their partnership that has long bridged the world of football with gaming.
The current deal will end after next summer’s Women’s World Cup which was initially supposed to end after this year’s Qatar World Cup. This year’s FIFA 23 will be the last under the partnership and it will eventually be renamed to EA Sports FC.
“We’re thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said. “The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger.
EA says it will share more information about EA Sports FC in June 2023, adding: “we exist to create the future of football fandom – whether virtual or real, digital or physical, it’s all football.”
According to the announcement, the new affiliation promises not to change the core aspects of the game. Fans can still expect that many of the world’s famous football stars and clubs will still be playable due to a separate licensing deal. However, specific FIFA-controlled events including the World Cup will be unavailable
EA's coming FIFA-less soccer game will still have "more than 300 individual licensed partners, giving players access to more than 19,000 athletes across 700 teams, in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues around the world." Those partners include major international leagues like the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, UEFA, CONMEBOL, and more.
Tags: #gaming, #football, #FIFA, #fandom, #sports