While there is quite a bit of talk that FIFA and Electronic Arts are going to part ways, that doesn't mean that the world's most popular soccer game is not likely to just go away. In fact, if other companies do try and grab the FIFA license, there are some who think 2K might be at the front of the line.
While it was once believed unthinkable that Electronic Arts and FIFA would part ways, there have been cracks in the foundation over the last few years. In particular, a report that the soccer organization wants around $1 billion every four years from EA in order to use its name has caused talk of the two companies going to split up. Some investors with 2K Sports have recently shown interest in filling the void that would be left should the two parties actually split.
Metro reports that the interest by those investors to talk to FIFA about taking over the video game franchise was expressed to 2K's boss Strauss Zelnick. He was reportedly asked point-blank whether he planned on attempting to go and get the license, should EA decide to drop it. Notably, he didn't answer yes or no, but instead seemed to talk around the question.
Instead of making it clear whether 2K Sports wanted to be the company that made the next FIFA game, he talked about a mobile soccer game that is quite a bit less popular. The game, Top Eleven, is produced by a company 2K recently acquired in Nordeus. Strauss talked about how happy he was to have Nordeus in the 2K family, claiming the company is "crushing it" and that he couldn't be happier with his firm's recent acquisition running the soccer manager business.
However, those same investors apparently understood that wasn't really an answer to the question of whether or not 2K would like to take over the FIFA franchise if EA goes another direction. When he was pressed for a yes or no, he still didn't directly answer the question. However, Zelnick did divulge that he'd at least given it some thought, saying it would be a big step forward for the company and it'd never been in the soccer video game business before.
Of course, while the rumblings inside the industry point to a divorce between Electronic Arts and FIFA, that divorce is not yet official. All this talk of other companies could actually end up being nothing more than talk. This may be one reason why Zelnick isn't committing to making a play.
FIFA 22 is now available for the Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S
Source: Metro