It seems that all good things must come to an end. EA Sports and FIFA are calling off their 30-year-long partnership after the release of FIFA 23, which is set to launch later this year. As reported by Polygon, it’s been confirmed that EA Sports will no longer be the official publisher for games representing the global governing body of football. Instead, EA Sports will introduce a brand new flagship title for its football games in 2023, as the newly branded EA Sports FC.
In a statement released online earlier today, EA Sports’ General Manager Cam Weber confirmed the shift to a new chapter for the football sim franchise, explaining that the publishers will be going it alone from July next year, and effectively ditching the FIFA branding altogether.
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“After nearly 30 years of creating genre-defining interactive football experiences, we will soon begin an exciting new era,” says Weber, further adding that “next year, EA SPORTS FC will become the future of football from EA SPORTS. Alongside our 300+ license partners across the sport, we’re ready to take global football experiences to new heights, on behalf of all football fans around the world.”
In the statement, Weber discusses the positive options that creating and publishing football games as an “independent platform” will bring, also confirming that the shift away from the FIFA branding will not have a knock-on effect on the licensing agreements obtained with real-world clubs, stadiums, teams and players.
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. 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.
Cam Weber, EVP, Group GM EA SPORTS & Racing
The studio maintains that the upcoming, and now final instalment of the FIFA franchise in FIFA 23 will be “the most expansive FIFA ever”. This news marks the end of one of the longest-standing and most substantial partnerships in gaming, so it will be interesting to see how EA Sports FC turns out and is received by the diehard FIFA gamers out there.
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