Electronic Arts will rename football game FIFA next year
Publisher EA announces a new name for football game FIFA. From 2023, the game will be called EA Sports FC. That means FIFA 23 will be the last football game under this name. This game will be released this summer.
After thirty years, football game FIFA another name. The first version of the game appeared in 1993 under the name FIFA International Soccer. Since then, EA has released a new FIFA game every year. The publisher will release a new game in 2023, but it will no longer be released under the FIFA license.
The rumor of a name change was already circulating at the end of March. Then journalist Jeff Grubb discovered that EA was recording the new trademarks for EA Sports Football Club. EA would not have agreed on a new deal with the football association of the same name over the use of the FIFA name. The football association is said to want $1.2 billion for a four-year license.
The Football Association gives in a own statement that it will work with other parties on new football games. FIFA Director Gianni Infantino “is confident that only the authentic, real games bearing the FIFA name will remain the best football games”.
Although the name of the football game will change, the game will remain the same, EA writes. The publisher says it still has licenses for the tens of thousands of players, hundreds of teams and stadiums that the recent FIFA games also had.
Ajax, among others, has announced that it will be part of the new EA Sports FC game that will appear next year. This year there will be another FIFA game that is still under the old license. FIFA 23 should be released in the summer.