Sports games are one of the staples of the video game space. You can quickly build up them from past entries while adding new specs, modes, players, etc. You also know there’s a fanbase for them because there are plenty of sports fans who are also gamers. Then, if you can time them right, like putting them before the beginning of a season or certain world events, you can capitalize on the hunger for the upcoming play and get them to buy the title, no questions asked. For FIFA and EA Sports, the stars aligned in their favor regarding FIFA 23.
The latest in the beloved soccer/Futbol franchise was already doing incredible in sales and was a major player, pun intended, in the year-end sales results for 2022. But now, via an earnings call reported by VGC, the team at EA is saying that FIFA 23 could be the biggest entry in the franchises’ history:
“Year to date net bookings from the FIFA franchise have grown 4%”, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in the call. “In North America alone, unit sales are up 50% year over year.”
But wait, there’s more. When you look at the launch numbers for the game, the title in its first ten days drew over a million more players to the game than the previous title did. EA also reported record levels of engagement during the last few months of the year.
That’s not a surprise, given that the World Cup took place at the end of last year and had some thrilling matchups. Not the least was the World Cup Final of Brazil vs. France, which many have hailed as the best World Cup Final in history due to the drama that built up during the match. Oh, and the fact that it ended in penalty kicks.
But that is where the irony starts to come in. Because you’d think that with the “record sales” happening and the love for the title over the first several months of its life, EA Sports and FIFA would be already hard at work on their next title to attempt to top this one. But that’s not what’s happening.
Instead, FIFA 23 is the final game in this duo’s partnership. Both groups will make their own soccer/Futbol games and have a rivalry going with one another since they’re not working together anymore.
So it’ll be interesting to see both titles’ sales when they come out.
