• by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, October 27, 2023

Let’s say you are the highest authority of a globally successful sport. Thirty years ago, a young sports gaming company came to you and you agreed on a licensing deal, and thus one of the most successful video game franchises ever was created. The latest edition of the game sells over 10 million units worldwide. The game has undoubtedly contributed to the name and fame of your organization and events. The game even spawned its own world championship, and there are countless videos of real-life athletes from the sport playing the game.

This is the story of FIFA and EA Sports, and their mega-successful FIFA soccer/football gaming partnership. And what happened when it was time to renew their deal?

FIFA walked away because the two entities couldn’t agree on fees. According to reporting in Wired, FIFA asked to double the fee to $300 million from $150 million.

I am guessing the negotiation was a game of chicken. FIFA probably thought that EA would never walk, knowing the enormous success of the game and the 30-year investment in the franchise. EA probably thought that FIFA would be willing to negotiate from its $300 million starting price, given the enormous success of the game and the 30-year investment in the franchise.

Both did not budge. FIFA declared it would create its own game, and the gaming world laughed. It takes an enormous amount of talent, resources, creativity, and time to launch a game. Nobody believed in FIFA’s ability to produce its own game.

 EA walked away from the 30-year relationship and launched Its latest soccer game edition as EA Sports FC 24.  That name is a bit of nothingburger, but nobody seemed to care. Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland is on the cover, and was at the launch party, immediately lending credence to the latest edition. Every player worth anything, be it in the sport or in the soccer gaming franchise, knew that EA Sports FC 24 was the new FIFA game, minus the FIFA name.

IGN, one of the gaming industry's leading publications, reported that “This month, EA announced FC 24 had more than 11.3 million players worldwide, including through EA Play. New players in FC 24 are up nearly 20% year-over-year.”

FIFA has scored a blunder in its arrogance of thinking EA would blink first. EA has an incredibly strong name in the sports gaming world. Apart from having delivered 30 years of the top of the range soccer game, it also publishes Madden NFL football, NHL hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR golf and UFC. Its pedigree as creators of top titles in sports gaming is unquestionable. Gamers know this, and don’t care about the FIFA label.

If anything, losing the FIFA label might actually help, since the organization is not exactly loved by soccer fans anyway. From the scandals that rocked the organization to its core in the early to mid 2000s, which led to its leadership being arrested and jailed on various corruption charges, to hosting the World Cup in Qatar, to proposing “Visit Saudi” as sponsor to the Women’s World Cup, the organization is tone-deaf and culture-blind. The only finger it seems to have on any pulse is that of its bank account, not fan sentiment.

So soccer fans have embraced the new EA Sports FC 24 game. FIFA is left standing empty-handed and with $150 million less in income. Well played, FIFA. Well played.