Football association FIFA will no longer partner with gaming company EA Sports – lending its name to the FIFA series of video games – and from next year the game franchise will be known as EA Sports FC.
EVP and group GM for EA Sports & Racing, Cam Weber, in a statement said, "This new independent platform will bring fresh opportunity -- to innovate, create and evolve. EA SPORTS FC will allow us to realize this future and much more ... but not before we deliver our most expansive game ever with our current naming rights partner, FIFA, for one more year."
The gaming company will retain its teams and player likeness because of separate license agreements with global soccer leagues in England and Spain.
On the other hand, FIFA acknowledged that it had granted EA a one-year extension to release the FIFA 23 video game this year. This new video game features upcoming men's and women's World Cups that FIFA organizes.
The global soccer governing body is now seeking to develop new games with third party studios and publishers in the next two years. The soccer league is already planning for a "major new" FIFA game in 2024.
Gianni Infantino, FIFA President says, "I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans. FIFA 23, FIFA 24, FIFA 25 and FIFA 26, and so on — the constant is the FIFA name and it will remain forever and remain THE BEST."
FIFA was the largest revenue maker for EA Sports, where the company admitted that "revenue from our FIFA franchise, including the annualized console and PC game which is consistently one of the best-selling games in the marketplace ... is material to our business and will continue to be so."
New York Times estimated the revenue from the FIFA franchise generated in the past two decades was $20 million in sales.
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