The gaming community was shocked and also afraid after they heard that there would not be another annual FIFA game; in fact, FIFA 23 would be the very last one of all. Was this the end of one of the greatest soccer dynasties ever?
Overview:
After more than 25 years of dropping a new FIFA game every year, they decided to say goodbye in 2023 with the previously mentioned version. However, Electronic Arts was not just going to stay with their hands crossed and watch their massive contributions fade away like nothing, so they gathered all the knowledge they had from the previous games they did in collaboration with FIFA, which is how EA FC 24 was born. At first, players had doubts and underestimated what the company was promoting for the future. Still, since they began to see how many clubs from many soccer leagues around the world said they “joined the club”, meaning that they were going to be available for use in-game, that is where they realized Electronic Arts was taking it seriously, and were going all in for their very first soccer game without FIFA’s featuring.
Origin:
Rewinding to the 90s, this was the first official FIFA game. It was explicitly released in 1993, developed and published by Electronic Arts for a SEGA console of the same year. It was extensively reviewed by the users but had issues; just like any game, it could have been better. Sometimes, it did not run well, but the company heard its users’ complaints and worked on them. Further game versions had bug fixes and additional features, like different camera views, improved graphics, and more.
21st Century
The game earned a lot of popularity, and its reputation increased so rapidly that top soccer players were part of its covers. Some of the games featured Virgil Van Dijk, Marco Reus, Eden Hazard, Ronaldinho, Rooney, Sol Campbell, and a lot more that were added to the covers because, at that time, they were a sensation in football. It is estimated that EA has made $20 billion only in FIFA games throughout the years just on sales; with that revenue, it is clear how successful this game was, until its last version in 2023.
What was the issue?
The reason why the partnership between FIFA and EA ended is not anything special; the contract was going to expire, and EA decided not to renew it. This is because FIFA doubled the fee for their license usage. If EA wanted to renew the contract, they would’ve had to agree to pay close to $300 million to keep FIFA’s features. Some sources say that EA thought “the FIFA logo simply wasn’t worth the cost” (Screenrant.com, 2023). Their relationship was never damaged; the only issue between them was the disagreement with the amount of money that FIFA was asking for. And that is how FIFA said goodbye forever after more than 2 decades to the videogame industry.
EA FC Now:
Today, EA FC 24 counts almost the same amount of players as last year and still making more than 7 figures with sales, as well as releasing events like the “Ultimate Dynasties,” which consists of unique player cards of father and son, cousins, siblings, or just relatives in general, for example, Paolo Maldini and Daniel Maldini, Zinedine Zidane and Luca Zidane, etc. It still has the same game types as last year’s game, with relatively enhanced graphics. Electronic Arts soccer is not dead, people; it’s still on the go, but now they don’t worry about having to pay an unbelievable amount of money to FIFA to grant them licensing; they are on their own terms from now on, and so far, it is going fantastic.
What does all of this mean?:
The discrepancy between FIFA and EA made one of the most popular video game sagas end after more than 25 years of achieving things together. However, EA did not remain static. They knew that all game types that they incorporated into the games throughout the years, plus graphics improvements and everything, were all theirs; it was never considered FIFA’s property, so they used their prior knowledge to do the job by themselves and keep the saga going, but now under their name, and under their own terms.
