The current deal, which was to end after this year’s World Cup in Qatar, has been adjusted to run through to the Women’s World Cup next summer. Once that tournament is over, the company said, 150 million FIFA video game players will have to get used to a new name for the series: EA Sports FC.
The game itself will not change much. Most of the world’s famous clubs and stars will still be playable because of separate licensing deals with their teams and leagues, even though the World Cup itself and other FIFA-controlled events will no longer be included. Still, the continuation of the game does not alter the seismic nature of even direct talks between and Andrew Wilson, the Electronic Arts chief executive, failed to yield a breakthrough, the sides agreed to an amicable separation, Wilson said.
“It was really about how can we do more for the players, more for the fans, how can we offer them more modalities to play, how can we bring more partners into the game, how can we expand beyond the bounds of the traditional game,” Wilson, whose personal association as an engineer of the game dates back two decades, said in a telephone interview.
In addition to a doubling of its licensing fee, FIFA also demanded the ability to attach its brand to other digital products, including other video games, according to people familiar with the talks. That proved to be a step too far for EA Sports, which now must persuade legions of devoted fans to get used to another name.
For FIFA, there is now the chance to seek out new opportunities. But replicating EA’s game will not be easy.
“If you’re breaking a relationship that goes back over 20 there will be consequences,” said a senior analyst specializing in the video games sector at Analysis. “EA will continue to motor on: They have got all the technological smarts, the creative implementation of an absolutely fantastic football game — and it really is fantastic. But what do FIFA have? Their name. And then what?”
Part of EA Sports’ calculation in separating FIFA, the organization, from the game that bore its name for a generation was the steep hurdles any challenger will face in testing EA’s dominance in the market. Its position has grown to almost complete control over the soccer gaming industry thanks to more than 300 other similar licensing agreements with organizations like UEFA, which runs the Champions League, and domestic leagues and competitions around the world.
Those deals allow EA to use the names and likenesses of not only players also world-famous clubs and prominent leagues and competitions in its game. The company was quick to leverage its connections on Tuesday; moments after the announcement of its change of direction went live, some of the world’s biggest teams — and some of the smallest — made clear they were siding with EA Sports over FIFA.
As FIFA seeks a new partner, many of those licenses will limit what it can do. For instance, the world’s two biggest club competitions — England’s Premier League and European soccer’s elite Champions League — will be available only to players of EA Sports FC.
“EA Sports is a long-term and valued partner of the Premier League, and we look forward to continuing to work together in the new era,” Richard Masters, the chief executive of the Premier League, said in EA’s statement announcing its break from FIFA. The statement also included rebranding.
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