Electronic Arts has various gaming franchises under its belt, and one of the most popular game franchises it has is the FIFA association football, aka soccer, video game series. With the recent release of FIFA 22, EA announced that the game has a record-breaking launch and provided some comments on the future of the franchise.
In a press release earlier today, EA Sports Group General Manager Cam Weber shared the company's thanks to the FIFA players for all of their support. Weber stated that the company saw FIFA 22 had 9.1 million players already join and make 7.6 million Ultimate Team squads that have played 460 million matches. While thanking the players for their support, Weber also shared that the company is looking to the future of the franchise in the foreseeable future, and that may involve changing the franchise's name.
In the post, Weber stated that after years of building its global audience, EA is looking at the direction FIFA could be going in. Part of this involves the possibility of the company changing the name of its global EA Sports football games. However, the post doesn't provide a clear indication of what the new name for the franchise could be.
EA is currently reviewing all of its naming rights agreements with the FIFA organization, which according to the post, is separate from its other official partnerships and licenses in the association football world. Despite this, Weber emphasizes that EA's objective is still to continue delivering the best gaming experiences to its fans. At the time of writing, this appears to be the only major change for the FIFA franchise annouced so far by EA.
According to the post, part of EA's focus to creating better game experiences is by listening to player feedback on how it can move forward with the FIFA franchise. The post lists some of the things EA consistently hears, including growing the global community and making innovative football experiences across new platforms. Also, committing to each level of the sport, "including grassroots, and accelerating the elevation of the women’s game." All of which has contributed to EA having a "clear vision for the future of football."
The post also emphasizes authenticity as an essential strength of the FIFA gaming experience. According to the post, the company focused on its over 300 individual licensed partners, which allow it access to the 17,000+ athletes over 700+ teams, in 100 stadiums, and over 30 leagues around the world. The company has continuously invested in the partnerships and licenses that would allow players to play in the various leagues offered in the FIFA games, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, and many others. Weber added that the company's partnerships and various licensed content allow it to continue bringing players an "unrivaled authenticity" in its EA Sports football games.
FIFA 22 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: EA