EA Sports have confirmed that this year's FIFA 23 will be the last instalment of the popular game it makes. Video games heavyweight Electronic Arts is ending its licence deal with football's governing body after 30 years.
EA has decided to end one of gaming's most lucrative brands due to the cost of the licence, with the company set to produce a new football game with different in-purchase options under the name EA Sports FC. Fifa says they plan to release a rival title, saying in quotes reported by the BBC: "The Fifa name is the only global, original title."
However EA Sports says players will only miss two things for its new football offerings - the FIFA name and a World Cup piece of content every four years. The first Fifa game made by EA Sports was launched in 1993, with several versions of the game selling in excess of 10million copies.
David Jackson, vice president at EA Sports, told the BBC that the studio thinks it's time to move in a different direction in order to build a "brand for the future". He added: "The world of football and the world of entertainment are changing, and they clash within our product. In the future our players will demand of us the ability to be more expansive in that offering.
“At the moment, we engage in play as a primary form of interactive experience. Soon, watching and creating content are going to be equally as important for fans.
"Under the licensing conventions that we had agreed with Fifa 10 years ago, there were some restrictions that weren't going to allow us to be able to build those experiences for players."
The Fifa licence enabled EA to use players' likeness as well as detailed kits and stadiums. However, EA Sports FC will continue to offer many real-world features, having signed up 19,000 athletes, 700 teams, 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues for future games - including the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Uefa. Electronic Arts signed their last 10-year licensing deal with Fifa in 2013 and reports suggested football's governing body had increased the renewal price to in excess of $1billion for a four-year World Cup cycle.
Jackson added: "Money plays a critical role in most negotiations, but the reason we are doing this is to create the very best experiences we can for both players and partners. As part of that you consider whether or not your investment in one place is better or worse than an investment in another. On balance, over time, we felt that our investments were better suited in spaces that were most important to players, like the different experiences we can now build in the game. For our partners, it's the way we can welcome and engage them into a platform that talks to 150 million young football fans around the world."
Fifa president Gianni Infantino said in a statement: “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. The constant is the Fifa name and it will remain forever and remain the best."
However, Jackson believes the changes from an EA perspective will be minimal. He added: "In terms of things that they'll miss, players will notice only two things: The name and a World Cup piece of content every four years. Outside of that, very little will change about the things they know, and love about the current Fifa products.
"Probably the easiest thing that we could have done would have been to maintain the status quo. Fifa has been an incredibly successful game over time, but there are moments when you need to consider what the future looks like and we feel like building our own brand is the best for us."
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