FIFA video games to get new name amid row between EA and FIFA: Report

The long relationship between world football body FIFA and video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) is reportedly coming to an end, and the iconic FIFA video game franchise is slated to get a new name 2023 onwards, reports suggest.

According to Comicbook.com, the 10-year-agreement between EA and FIFA will come to an end after the release of FIFA 23 later this year, and is unlikely to be renewed as the two parties are at loggerheads about the money required to renew the agreement.

The relationship between the world football body and the video game publisher got strained over the course of 2021, especially with FIFA demanding $2.5 billion over 10 years from EA to renew the agreement.

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That proposition, however, has not gone down well with the company, and EA CEO Andrew Wilson has reportedly argued for the scrapping of the FIFA branding for EA’s upcoming football games. Wilson also reportedly claimed that FIFA had prevented the video game franchise from evolving, and said that EA’s existing partnerships would allow it to retain the features that made its games so popular over the past two decades.

So what next?

Well, EA Sports has already filed a trademark for a new name for its upcoming football games – EA Sports FC – and the coming years could very well see new football games released under the new name.

As for FIFA, the world football body has updated its trademark to include video games, and hence could publish its own series of football games with a different publisher.

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In simpler words, 2023 could see two football video games hit the shelves side by side, one by FIFA and one by EA.

That being said, nothing is final at the moment, and the aforementioned moves by FIFA and EA could be aimed at creating leverage for negotiations, given the money involved.

While an agreement between the two parties looks unlikely at the moment, it remains to be seen what becomes of the FIFA video game franchise that has been running strong since the early 1990s.