FIFA is a series of football simulation video games developed and published annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. A series of electronic football games, FIFA was created by EA Sports, a subsidiary of American game company Electronic Arts, and licensed by EA Sports International Football Federation (FIFA). EA Sports is exploring the idea of rebranding its annual FIFA video game franchise a week after the release of its latest game, FIFA 22, EA Sports said.
The landscape of the soccer video game may be getting a fresh look after EA Sports and FIFA released statements a week apart indicating their longtime partnership could be changing, even if neither came forward and said so outright. FIFA, whose name has become synonymous with video game football over the past two decades, can no longer be the name of EA Sports’ globally dominant franchise. A recently released documentary by Complex called The FIFA Story chronicles the ups and downs of FIFA 16 on its way to its current status as a mega-sports video game. FIFA 12 holds the record for the “best-selling sports game of all time”, with over 3.2 million games sold and over $186 million in retail receipts in the first week of FIFA’s release.
EA and FIFA first teamed up to create FIFA International Soccer in 1993 and released at least one new FIFA game every year. EA Sports has created several add-ons for 16-bit video game systems and Sega CDs, beginning with FIFA International Soccer. Electronic Arts have regularly released football management games since 1997, most of them under their own FIFA or FA Premier League licenses. Football video games such as Tehkan World Cup, Sensible Soccer, Kick-Off, and Match Day had been developed since the late 1980s and were already competitive in the games market when EA Sports announced the next addition to their EA Sports label. When the series debuted in late 1993 on the Sega Mega Drive with FIFA International Soccer, it was notable for being the first to have an official licence from FIFA, the world governing body of football.
EA Sports’ long-term licensing agreement with FIFA is reminiscent of the arrangements with the NCAA for its college football video games from 1997 to 2013 and NCAA. The Konamis eFootball/Pro Evolution Soccer/Winning Eleven series, able to license many players and plays in world football, has done so despite not using the FIFA name.
There are 300 other licensees EA Sports paid to give genuine authenticity to EA Sports’ world-leading franchises, from the FIFPRO Group licenses that provide the game with a roster of over 17,000 players to The best professional leagues in Europe, such as the UEFA Champions League and the Spanish League. EA didn’t specify why its FIFA series might be renamed but repeatedly referred to the series as “our EA Sports game” instead of FIFA. The review means that EA Sports is reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses in football.
