TOPLINE
EA Sports dropped its announcement trailer Monday for FC 24, the first soccer video game from the publisher after it did not reach a new licensing agreement with FIFA, the world soccer governing body, last year—ending the extremely popular FIFA-branded soccer video game series.
KEY FACTS
The rebrand to EA Sports FC was announced last May when FIFA and EA Sports did not reach a licensing agreement, which marked the end of the entities’ nearly 30-year partnership.
In a statement to fans last year, EA Sports said its soccer video game would remain the same following the rebrand—a claim backed by the brand’s more than 300 licensing agreements with clubs and leagues internationally.
During contentious negotiations, FIFA asked for at least double the annual $150 million it would receive from EA Sports, according to the New York Times.
The trailer, narrated by British actor Daniel Kaluuya, featured pre-rendered footage of men’s and women’s soccer stars of past and present interacting with each other in locker rooms and a tunnel.
The trailer concluded with a note that a full gameplay trailer will be released Thursday.
KEY BACKGROUND
At least two years of negotiations transpired over renewing the contract that allowed EA Sports to use FIFA’s name for its yearly soccer video game. EA Sports was FIFA’s largest commercial partner before the breakup. EA spokesman Eric Escaravage told Forbes last year the decision to split from FIFA was an “amicable” one, and the gamemaker was thankful to FIFA for its years of partnership. The final installment of the franchise, FIFA 23, is one of the series’ top-selling games. From the start of the year to the end of May, FIFA 23 was the eighth-best-selling game in the world, beating other sports video games such as Madden NFL 23 and NBA 2K23, according to Circana.
BIG NUMBER
More than $20 billion. That’s the amount FIFA video games generated in sales during the last 20 years, according to the Times.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
It remains to be seen if and how the rebrand from FIFA to FC will impact sales for EA Sports. If things remain largely unchanged, FC will likely continue to keep up EA’s streak of publishing and developing one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
FURTHER READING
FIFA and EA Sports End Decades-Long Video Game Partnership (New York Times)