After almost 30 years, Electronic Arts (EA) and FIFA, the international governing body of association football, are ending their partnership on the best selling sports game title “EA Sports FIFA” after failing to agree to terms on a new partnership deal. The current deal ends after FIFA 23 releases this Fall.
The end of the partnership comes after months of negotiations which saw EA requesting exclusivity rights and FIFA wanting to double the $150 million it received annually from EA. Without an agreement, the gaming world now sees the end of one of the longest and most lucrative deals in gaming history.
EA announced that they will continue making their world famous soccer simulation game under a new name, “EA Sports FC.” EA will continue to feature world famous clubs, domestic leagues (i.e. English Premier League & German Bundesliga), and competitions (i.e. UEFA Champions League & CONCACAF Gold Cup) through existing partnerships with regional governing bodies like UEFA, CONCACAF, and AFC. With the news of the partnership ending, several domestic leagues released statements in support of EA’s new FIFA-less game, with the biggest nod of support coming from Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League stating, “EA Sports is a long-term and valued partner of the Premier League, and we look forward to continuing to work together in the new era.” The statement also included comments from other top executives of the German and Spanish leagues backing EA’s new era.
The gamble FIFA has accepted is to attempt to compete against EA (and its over 20 year history of developing a soccer simulation game) by launching an all new, built from the ground up, competing soccer simulation game in 2024. FIFA’s new game (name yet to be announced) would launch without the partnership deals of the regional governing bodies, domestic leagues, and competitions that are already locked into deals with EA, making the uphill battle to compete against EA even harder.
Image from: EA
