US publishing giant Electronic Arts has ended its partnership with FIFA.
In a release, the games firm said that its best-selling football franchise would now go under the name EA Sports FC as of 2023. This follows Electronic Arts saying in October 2021 that it was reconsidering a rebrand for its football series, with reporting later revealing that FIFA wanted twice as much money to license its name. That would have meant that EA would pay $1 billion every four years to use the FIFA name.
“Our vision for EA SPORTS FC is to create the largest and most impactful football club in the world, at the epicentre of football fandom,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson said.
“For nearly 30 years, we’ve been building the world’s biggest football community – with hundreds of millions of players, thousands of athlete partners, and hundreds of leagues, federations, and teams. EA SPORTS FC will be the club for every one of them, and for football fans everywhere.
“We’re thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA. The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger. We have an incredible opportunity to put EA SPORTS FC at the heart of the sport, and to bring even more innovative and authentic experiences to the growing football audience.”
In a separate press release, FIFA president Gianni Infantino reiterated the organisation’s intention to work with other developers and publishers in the games space.
“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 said. “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.”
FIFA has worked with Electronic Arts as its licensing partner since 1993.
This article was first published on PCGamesInsider.biz.
