It may soon be the end of FIFA as we know it. In a statement, EA said its soccer game may soon have a new name. The reason is surely to seek the side of its contract with the organization from which it borrows the name, which will end next year.
While FIFA 22 has barely been released, there may not be FIFA 23. Don’t panic, EA didn’t suddenly decide to give up one of the most lucrative licenses in history. On the other hand, it could be that the name of this one comes to change. This is indeed what the publisher declares in a press release: “In the future, we are also exploring the idea of renaming our EA SPORTS football games. This means that we are reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all of our other official football partnerships and licenses ”.
It would be a small revolution, since the game has been named after him since the very first opus released in 1993, name he then borrowed from each of his annual editions. The parallel with PES, its lifelong rival eFootball, is obviously obvious. However, EA probably does not want to imitate its competitor to stay in the race (which he has, in any case, obviously won at the sight of the disastrous comments on free-to-play). As the editor explains, it is better to turn to the side of his contract with the International Football Federation.
FIFA may not be called FIFA anymore
Indeed, this contract signed in 2013 will expire December 31, 2022. It is a safe bet that FIFA, which therefore lends its acronym, does not wish to end this partnership, which nevertheless brings it back. 85 million euros per year according to the New York Times. “Our relationship with EA Sports is very important“, Even expressed Jérôme Valcke, former secretary general of the Federation. “FIFA video games are a major component of our work in communicating the FIFA brand and values around the world”.
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But for EA, that’s another story. It would not be surprising for the company to seek to maximize the profits generated by its license. As proof of this, we have the insane proportion of micro-transactions that we find in the game, which in total brought him back 1.3 billion euros. Especially since the latter is now permanently installed, with already 9.1 million players for the latest opus. No need for a big name to get started.
