A recent statement issued by FIFA, the worldwide governing body of professional soccer, indicates that the organization may cut ties with long-time video game partner FIFA series since 1993 as part of its overall competitive sports games portfolio, which includes other popular franchises such as Madden.
As one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, FIFA's annual releases have been flagship inclusions in EA's broader body of published works in the era of modern gaming. While the FIFA name has been synonymous with the gaming publisher for decades, a recent trademark filing hinted that Konami's eFootball.
It turns out that that trademark filing might have been signaling an even more significant change. As FIFA 22, which has been criticized for featuring only minor changes to the series' well-worn formula.
It's not clear what this could mean for the future of the series, especially when considering the fact that EA might still own the rights to things like the digital likenesses of various players and stadiums. EA locking down the alternate name EA Sports FC gives the impression that the publisher will continue to develop soccer games, though this time with branding that is more directly linked to the company name. If EA does go on to release annual games under this new title, one could assume that the developers would still be using the same engine and assets from previous FIFA games.
The FIFA franchise has been no stranger to controversy, particularly regarding the subject of microtransactions. EA will likely be doubling down on the games' live-service integrations according to a leak claiming that the next FIFA game will be free-to-play. If this is the route EA takes with the EA Sports FC games, it will be interesting to see how a new branch of non-EA FIFA games will tackle these more contentious elements.
Source: Video Games Chronicle
