EA has confirmed the release date window for the first title in the new EA Sports FC series, the successor to the long-running, and soon to be defunct, EA Sports FIFA series.
EA's fourth quarter and fiscal year end results were released yesterday, and although most of what was included in the published documents won't be of interest to most gamers, there were a few juicy bits of information, particularly about FIFA 23, FIFA 22 and the upcoming EA Sports FC series.
In slide 9 of the Q4 FY23 earnings slides, EA confirmed what many have long suspected; that EA Sports FC is the name of its new series of games, with a brand new entry in the series set to be released every year. This all but confirms that the name of the first title in the series will be EA Sports FC 24 – or EA FC 24 – with the publisher expected to follow the same yearly naming pattern, following on from FIFA 23.
Also included in this particular slide was confirmation that the first title in the new EA Sports FC series will be released in Q2 FY24, which, in non-corporate speak, means that the EA Sports FC 24 release date will fall between August 1, 2023 and October 31, 2023. Again, this follows the same format as the EA Sports FIFA series.
If it ain't broke
It's not hard to see why EA has stuck with what is an immense money-making strategy for so many years. Following EA's high-profile divorce with FIFA, which led to the end of the hugely successful EA Sports FIFA game series, there was some speculation that EA Sports FC could become a free-to-play live service game. But, one quick look at its financial results show why this was never really going to happen.
In its Q4 FY23 earnings press release, EA says that FIFA 23 has now surpassed the life-time sales of FIFA 22 in just six months, with the latest game now the most successful and best-selling title in the series' history. But just how successful? Glad you asked.
In Q4 alone (December 31, 2022 to March 31, 2023), net bookings (the net amount of products and services sold either digitally or physically), for EA Sports FIFA titles grew 31% year-over-year, with live services (in-game purchases like FIFA points) grew 20% year-over-year. So not only are sales of the full game increasing, so too are the in-game purchases for Ultimate Team.
Overall, EA made $7.3 billion in total net bookings in its last financial year, with $5.5 billion of this coming from live service net bookings. Talk about having your cake and eating it.
