EA announced that Fifa will be rebranded under its new title EA Sports Football Club (FC) starting with its 2023 release.
The publisher says that this change will deliver the “world’s biggest interactive sports experience for its growing community in collaboration with 300+ partners across the world of football”.
“Our vision for EA SPORTS FC is to create the largest and most impactful football club in the world, at the epicenter of football fandom,” said Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson. “For nearly 30 years, we’ve been building the world’s biggest football community – with hundreds of millions of players, thousands of athlete partners, and hundreds of leagues, federations, and teams. EA SPORTS FC will be the club for every one of them, and for football fans everywhere.”
EA Sports FC will maintain the franchise’s individual licensed partners, giving players access to more than 19,000 athletes across 700 teams, in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues worldwide. The publisher says they wish for the brand to further grow the reach and power of its football licensing portfolio by retaining and expanding the licensed football content, scaling to new experiences, and increasing access through more platforms.
They say they will also build on a foundation of inclusivity and innovate in new areas around both women’s and grassroots football for the global community.
EA has also said that the introduction of EA Sports FC will not impact any current EA Sports games, most notably Fifa 23, which will be released this fall.
Wilson continued: “We’re thankful for our many years of a great partnership with FIFA. The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger. We have an incredible opportunity to put EA SPORTS FC at the heart of the sport, and to bring even more innovative and authentic experiences to the growing football audience.”
The reason for the split between EA and Fifa is allegedly due to several factors including Fifa asking for a higher license fee for the brand which EA was unwilling to pay and not allowing them to implement certain modes into the game.
More information on the future of EA Sports Football will be made available in the Summer of 2023.