The end of an era.
EA and FIFA have split, with EA Sports saying it will launch EA Sports FC in 2023 and FIFA insisting it will partner with other developers and publishers to offer an “authentic” experience.
We’ve broken today’s news down for you below.
EA Sports FC coming in 2023
EA will drop the FIFA branding from its football titles next year, going with EA Sports FC instead.
According to EA, the move will allow it to “deliver the world’s biggest interactive sports experience” for the growing community in collaboration with over 300 partners across the world of football.
The publisher said the move will allow it to “innovate, create, and grow new experiences,” in an attempt to “harness the collective strength” of its player base.
“Our vision for EA Sports FC is to create the largest and most impactful football club in the world, at the epicenter of football fandom,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement. “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.”
EA Sports FC will be the result of over 300 individual licensing partners, boasting more than 19,000 athletes, 700 teams, 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues.
“We’re thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA,” Wilson continued. “The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger. We have an incredible opportunity to put EA Sports FC at the heart of the sport, and to bring even more innovative and authentic experiences to the growing football audience.”
FIFA 23 will be released later this year.
FIFA looking to partner to make “the only authentic, real game”
FIFA itself has declared it is on the hunt for developers and publishers, insisting “the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans.”
FIFA itself will embrace a non-exclusive licensing model, meaning that there’s the potential for multiple devs and publishers to release FIFA branded titles.
“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,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “The FIFA name is the only global, original title. 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.”
FIFA is currently engaging contacts to create a new simlulation title for 2023, but will also launch non-sim titles ahead of that time.
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
What do you make of today’s news?
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