FIFA are planning to create their own football video game after it was announced their three-decade partnership with EA Sports is coming to an end.
EA Sports have confirmed FIFA 23 - the next edition of the franchise - will be the final video game in the series as we know it. The company has been making "FIFA" since 1993, when they released FIFA International Soccer on the Sega Mega Drive.
Since then, "FIFA" has become the leading football video game on the market. It was previously known as "FIFA Football" until the 2004-05 edition of the game but has gone by the shorter and more common name of "FIFA" for the last 17 years.
EA Sports were also responsible for the release of "FIFA Street" - an arcade-style game that sees the world's finest players compete in games of five-a-side on concrete pitches. Four versions of this off-shoot were released between 2005 and 2012.
Despite years of history, EA have announced the franchise will be known as "EA Sports FC" from the 2023-24 season onwards. "I want to start by thanking this incredible community of more than 150 million fans for helping build the world’s biggest football entertainment platform - EA Sports FIFA," read a statement on Tuesday.
"After nearly 30 years of creating genre-defining interactive football experiences, we will soon begin an exciting new era. Next year, EA Sports FC will become the future of football from EA Sports.
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"Everything you love about our games will be part of EA SPORTS FC - the same great experiences, modes, leagues, tournaments, clubs and athletes will be there. Ultimate Team, Career Mode, Pro Clubs and VOLTA Football will all be there."
The main concern for fans of the franchise will be the lack of rights. One of the game's biggest selling points during the last 30 years has been it's huge library of professional footballers, clubs and leagues - something no other title has managed to compete with.
Although EA Sports claim their new title will have "the same great experiences" - the game will not boast as many licenses as before. Yet fear not, as FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed the governing body will create their own video game.
"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," Infantino told the press on Tuesday. Whether FIFA can create a quality game like EA will be their biggest challenge.
"The world of football and the world of entertainment are changing, and they clash within our product," EA Sports vice-president David Jackson told the BBC. "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."
