Electronic Arts blows whistle on Fifa deal after 29 years
ELECTRONIC Arts is to stop making classic football video game Fifa after next year’s instalment of the console title, ending one of the industry’s most profitable and long-lived franchises.
EA Sports, the video game publisher’s football division, said today that it will replace the venerable gaming title, first seen on the shelves in 1993, with a new series called EA Sports FC.
Meanwhile, Fifa has vowed to develop new video games with other publishers ahead of the World Cup.
A senior executive from EA said that the move to end the Fifa franchise was driven by licensing frustrations.
David Jackson, EA vice president, said: “Under the licensing conventions that we had agreed with Fifa 10 years ago, there were some restrictions that weren’t going to allow us to be able to build those experiences for players.”
The current deal limits players’ ability to watch games played by others and create content themselves, he said.
Chris Bruzzo, EA chief experience officer, told gaming website Eurogamer that about 100m people played Fifa in some form last year.
Steve Mccaskill, media and technology editor of industry website Sportspro, said: “Given EA Sports has cultivated a huge fan base and secured licensing agreements with other bodies like UEFA and the Premier League, the suggestion is that Fifa arguably needs the game more than vice versa.”
EA sought to head off fears the new game will be similar to Pro Evolution Soccer, which thanks to lack of licensing deals features teams such as “Merseyside Red” instead of Liverpool FC.
Cam Weber, vice president of EA’S sports and racing games division, said the company has the licences for more than 19,000 players, over 700 teams, 100-plus stadiums and 30 leagues.
Mr Weber said EA would deliver “one more year” of Fifa before the franchise ends, ready for EA Sports FC to launch in 2023. Fifa, the football governing body that lends its name to the video series, said it is working on new games.