EA says it could cut ties with FIFA and rename its football series

Electronic Arts has said it may choose to rename the FIFA series at some point in the future.

In a press release discussing the success of the FIFA 22 launch, the publisher also said it’s reviewing its licensing agreement with FIFA, the international governing body of football.

The statement implies that were the company to cut ties with FIFA and rename the series, it would still retain all its other league, player and stadium licensing because these are reportedly separate from the FIFA licence.

“Through years of building our global franchise, we also know that authenticity is essential to the experience,” the statement reads.

“That’s why we focus so much energy on the collective strength of over 300 individual licensed partners that give us access to 17,000+ athletes across 700+ teams, in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues around the world.

“We continually invest in the partnerships and licenses that are most meaningful to players, and because of that, our game is the only place you can authentically play in the iconic UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, Premier League, Bundesliga, and LaLiga Santander, among many others.

“The breadth of our partnerships and our ecosystem of licensed content will enable us to continue to bring unrivalled authenticity in our EA Sports football games, now and for many years to come,” it continued.

“As we look ahead, we’re also exploring the idea of renaming our global EA Sports football games. This means we’re reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world.”

Further reading

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Review: FIFA 22 is the best of the bunch, even if it barely raises the bar

Unless you love Career mode, EA's latest instalment will feel very familiar

FIFA 22 was released on October 1 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC and Stadia.

A gameplay trailer released in July showed off some of the new features added to the game, including the new machine learning-based player animations, improved tactical AI and overhauled goalkeeper performance.

VGC’s FIFA 22 review said: “FIFA 22 is the best in the series to date, even if its revamped animation isn’t as revolutionary as billed. As a standalone title it’s fantastic, even though avid players will likely feel that changes are negligible compared to last year.”