Group Admins
The news of the rift between EA Sports and FC 24 Coins comes just weeks after the release of EA’s newest annual title, FC 24. The newest update to the annual football franchise featured a slew of changes to many areas of the game with a focus on minor updates to FC 24 ‘s gameplay like the highly-touted Hypermotion Technology. A split between EA Sports and FIFA would mean that “EA Sports FC” would be EA Sports’ first flagship title since 2022’s EA Sports MMA to not feature the branding of a major sports league.
The EA Sports FIFA franchise has dominated the association football gaming market for years. While other franchises like Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer, recently renamed to eFootball, and Football Manager have carved out their own niche in the market, neither of them have come close to the widespread success of the FIFA franchise. With the FC 24 Ultimate Teamure of FIFA ‘s presence in the gaming industry up in the air, the rift between EA and FIFA should provide an opportunity for some of the lesser players to make their case as the organization’s next developer.
Electronic Arts has had firm control over FIFA football brand for a very long time. The first FIFA game was released in 1993. titled FIFA International Soccer, and was published by EA Sports. In the over 25 years since, EA has kept the FIFA license locked down, and in the process has made the best-selling sports video game franchise of all time. All empires come to an end, however, and the FIFA franchise is facing a reckoning. A new statement from FIFA itself makes it clear that the exclusivity for EA is likely coming to an end.
In recent weeks, EA has made it publically known that its negotiations for continued exclusivity of the FIFA brand are not going well. FIFA reportedly asked for over $1 billion across four years for exclusive access to the cheap EA FC 24 Coins brand, said to be more than twice the current $150 million-per-year deal. With EA and FIFA ‘s 10-year deal ending after 2022’s World Cup in Qatar, a decision on the new deal needs to come soon, but if anything the two parties seem further apart than ever.