Though this is sure to be a test of the power of branding.

So we all heard the news on Tuesday, EA will no longer be calling it’s football simulation games FIFA, instead opting for the (admittedly terrible) new name of EA Sports FC. Most of us took this move to mean FIFA games are coming to an end, and next year’s FIFA 23 will be the last FIFA game ever. And to be fair, that’s not completely incorrect, next year’s FIFA game will be the last FIFA, but seemingly only on name, and EA themselves are definitely going to continue with the game as EA Sports FC, seemingly complete with all the players,features and (presumably) licensing from the previous games minus the FIFA brand name. But this still does mean a pretty big change for the world’s leading soccer game, and how it will affect a whole host of FIFA and football fans is definitely worth discussing.

Why did EA do this to begin with?

Well, the short answer there is the reason  behind all businesses decisions: money. For EA to keep making games with the FIFA soccer board’s name, logo and endorsement attached (aka, one of the things that make you think FIFA is a more “official” game than it’s competitors) is because they signed a specific licensing deal with the FIFA board and have been renewing said arrangement for over 20 years. That arrangement meant that currently, EA was paying the FIFA board about $150 million per year, which seemed fine for a video game series that’s made over $20 billion but earlier this year it seemed that agreement had reached its limits, with FIFA (the board) demanding  more money from EA, specifically demanding over $1 billion for every four years, more than double the current amount. FIFA also highlighted that since their agreement is an exclusive one, meaning FIFA cant’ attach its name or branding to any other games, EA should either pay up or let FIFA give competitors similar benefits, or even help them source the same licensing deals that allowed FIFA to have all the real team names, branding and so fourth that stopped competitors like Pro Evolution Soccer (Now called eFootball) from seeming as authentic as FIFA games in the past. EA CEO Andrew Wilson apparently thought the costs FIFA was presenting outweighed the benefits however, and even went on to say “Basically, what we get from FIFA in a non-World Cup year is the four letters on the front of the box,” seemingly believing the game to be too big to fail now even without the FIFA name.

So will the game be the same?

Currently, it seems like EA Sports FC will probably be just like the existing FIFA games, maybe even boringly so that players will complain of no new features. EA’s Cam Weber specifically said “Ultimate Team, Career Mode, Pro Clubs and Volta Football will all be there. Our unique licensing portfolio of more than 19,000+ players, 700+ teams, 100+ stadiums and 30 leagues that we’ve continued to invest in for decades will still be there, uniquely in EA Sports FC. That includes exclusive partnerships with the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A, the MLS — and more to come.”, so as far as if the game will have everything you want, that will likely be the case. Especially with the firs EA Sports FC game , the company would do well to make sure of this, because that will be the easiest way to keep customer loyalty. There could be a chance that things might make a bit of a change however.

The eFootball/Pro Evolution Soccer Situation

While this whole situation might seem like it’s a perfect storm for FIFA’s rival games to jump in and steal it’s thunder, ironically it would seem like the best fit competitor to do that is currently suffering the effects of making moves similar , but more drastic to what EA has done. Pro Evolution Soccer, FIFA’s longest standing rival game changed it’s name to eFootball in 2019 when it launched eFootball 2020. This was essentially just the same game with a new name. However in 2021 they took a much bigger risk by launching eFootball 2022, a game which was supposed to redefine the football gaming landscape and instead seemingly fell flat on it’s face and maybe doomed the franchise. eFootball 2022 scraped the pre-existing PES formula that essentially did everything FIFA did but different(maybe better), and instead aimed to make a free, online- live service soccer game where players can start with a base set of about 8 teams then decide to buy any extra teams, stadiums, players and game modes they want based on their own preferences. In a world where new console games cost USD $70 in western countries, this made sense as you could probably buy a pack with all the teams you like form maybe a total of $35, rather than needing to pay full price for features you may never use. It was a huge risk however, and the fact that the game launched in an almost unplayable state meant it got the worst reputation possible, with existing PES fans essentially rendering it a waste and those on the edge going back to FIFA instead. Why are we mentioning this? Well because with a new name and identity EA might see a chance to at least partially play with a few new  features in their rebranded game.

In 2025 the next EA Sports FC game might take a similar model to eFootball, especially with how much money FIFA makes through the Ultimate Team mode right now. And while personally I really do dread this fate, it does make some sense in the long run, because FIFA (and other sports simulators) are the best games to apply the live game service model, where the game releases, gains multiple updates or expansions, some free and some paid for, that offer new content or some optional features. So imagine if the second EA sports FC game launches 2025, and will just get updates for extra teams, new jerseys or player rebalancing over the years with maybe new modes as well, which is what many new FIFA games boil down to these days anyway. EA would just need to at the very least try and be fair in its implementation, making sure for example that kickoff , career and tournament modes could work completely offline, and free updates for player drafts could be applied , while the rest of the stuff would need payment and an internet connection if need be. Of course whether they would do this is another situation entirely, but it shouldn’t be ruled out.

Is this all a good thing then?

At the moment, it doesn’t seem like a bad one. EA changing it’s game’s name may create some negative perceptions for a bit, but if the game stays the same (which at least for the next 2 years seems to be the case), then FIFA fans should be just fine. As for after? Well we can’t be sure. However one good thing from this might be that FIFA helps other games, eFootball and whoever else wants to try, to gain a better shot at actually matching up to FIFA as far as looks and licensing are involved. Whether this will work is another thing entirely, but in the end all this competition makes it better for everyone, as it would stop EA from making bad games and losing even more customers. Either way, this is the start of a pretty interesting time in soccer and sports games, and we’re at the very least interested in seeing where it goes next.

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