Electronic Arts have announced that it will no longer develop or publish the long-running FIFA series, with this year’s FIFA 23 being the last entry helmed by EA.
The California-based company announced the split on Tuesday (10th May 2022), highlighting the new brand, EA SPORTS FC, under which all of its future football titles will fall. FIFA has announced that it will also continue producing football games as before, revealing its plans to partner with one or several third parties to release competing games under the FIFA banner.
An increase in FIFA’s licensing fee is the reason behind the announcement, with The New York Times reporting that FIFA asked for double the money from EA Sports for any licensing agreement to continue.
The lack of resolution in these deals has caused the 30-year partnership, across which 30 mainline FIFA titles and numerous spin-offs were released, to come to an end.
As for the newly-announced EA-produced football series, it will aim to deliver the same core experience that FIFA players have come to expect, including the ever-popular Ultimate Team mode.
EA SPORTS FC won’t be a carbon copy of its predecessor, though, as alluded to by EA Sports head Cam Weber’s promise to “innovate” and “evolve” its popular formula. For the moment, however, EA is revealing few details as to what this means.
Currently, partners like the Premier League, LaLiga, UEFA, Bundesliga, CONMEBOL and NIKE have committed to working with EA Sports on its upcoming series.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino remains adamant that the FIFA series will remain the go-to football series in gaming, saying, “the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans.”
EA Sports will release FIFA 23 later this year, with details surrounding EA Sports FC following in summer 2023.
Words by Jamie Davies
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