After three decades of bringing one of the most popular franchises in the video game industry, Electronic Arts and its subsidiary EA Sports announced on Tuesday that it will end its partnership with FIFA, the global soccer's governing agency.
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WOLFSBURG, GERMANY - APRIL 30: The match ball is seen during the UEFA Women's Champions League Semi Final Second Leg match between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Barcelona at on April 30, 2022 in Wolfsburg, Germany.
By next year, the widely iconic FIFA video game franchise will soon be called as "EA SPORTS FC", which will be a newly independent platform that will usher fresh opportunities "to innovate, create and evolve."
In a statement with CNN, Cam Weber, EVP and group GM for EA Sports & Racing, said that their new platform will allow their team to realize their future before delivering their "most expansive game" with their current naming rights partner, FIFA, for another year.
However, this does not mean that EA will make drastic changes in the game, they will still keep most of the team and player characteristics that catapulted the game to its popularity.
This is due to the fact that EA still holds separate license agreements with international soccer leagues from Spain, Germany, Italy, England, the United States and European soccer association UEFA.
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"Remain Forever and Remain The Best"
FIFA also noted in a press release statement that it had given EA one more year to release the FIFA 23 video game which is set to release later this year. The game will highlight the upcoming men's and women's World Cups that FIFA organizes.
However, this extension only grants rights for EA Sports for the simulation football category, which in turn allows FIFA to free up broader gaming rights to produce new games for football fans.
This means that the conclusion of the partnership will not stop the soccer governing body from developing new games because it will tap into "third party and publishers" in the next few years and is currently planning for a "major new" game in 2024.
"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," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
He added that, "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."
EA Sports own various popular video game sports franchises, such as NHL (hockey), the PGA Tour (golf), Madden (American football), and Formula 1 (racing). But the company disclosed in their latest annual report that FIFA is their most popular and best selling game franchise so far.
In fact, a report from the New York Times revealed that the FIFA franchise produced above $20 billion in sales over the past two decades.
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
