EA has been making games for the FIFA franchise for decades, and after losing the license to produce games holding the FIFA title, it naturally follows that the popular Ultimate Team mode will also have to be rebranded. EA will continue to produce football games, albeit under the name EA Sports FC while leaning on various licenses from football associations like the German Bundesliga, Spanish LaLiga, and the English Premier League in order to keep popular clubs and players that draw fans to the franchise on the roster.
While some fans have hopes for EA Sports FC, losing the license to produce FIFA games is a heavy blow to EA Sports. The company has produced these games for nearly 3 decades with the first title in the series being FIFA International Soccer which was released on historic platforms like the SNES and Sega Mega Drive. In the years that followed, the series became a staple of sorts, enjoyed by even those who have little interest in the actual sport. FIFA 09 saw the launch of the Ultimate Team mode, which is commonly referred to simply as FUT.
EA has filed for a trademark indicating that the popular game mode will be known in the future as Football Ultimate Team, dropping the FIFA name while at the same time retaining the FUT acronym. It's likely that the game mode will remain largely the same otherwise. The Ultimate Team mode allows players to build their dream team consisting of their favorite players from clubs all over the world by purchasing booster packs. The Ultimate Team mode on its own is hugely lucrative to EA but is often criticized for its microtransaction-heavy nature.
Whether or not EA Sports FC will be as successful as the FIFA-branded games remains to be seen, but EA is certainly doing everything in its power to continue delivering an experience that fans of FIFA games have grown to love. Recently, EA has been in the process of striking deals with sports bodies other than FIFA as it seeks to transition to the new brand without losing too many players in the process.
EA has drawn criticism over their FIFA series from many fans who believe that the company has not been doing much to innovate and improve on the game. Some might go so far as to say that it simply keeps re-releasing the same game year after year, with only minor tweaks and updates to the rosters of the myriad clubs in the games. Perhaps EA Sports FC will bring some new innovation that many believe the series has sorely needed.
EA Sports FC is in development.