EA announced their popular series of FIFA video games will be called EA Sports FC starting in 2023.
In honor of the news, Electronic Arts CEO, Andrew Wilson, had the following to say about the upcoming change:
Our vision for EA Sports FC is to create the largest and most impactful football club in the world, at the epicenter of football fandom.
For nearly 30 years, we’ve been building the world’s biggest football community – with hundreds of millions of players, thousands of athlete partners, and hundreds of leagues, federations, and teams. EA Sports FC will be the club for every one of them, and for football fans everywhere.
We’re thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA. The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger. We have an incredible opportunity to put EA SPORTS FC at the heart of the sport, and to bring even more innovative and authentic experiences to the growing football audience.
EA Press Release
While fans are worried this might mean massive changes for the beloved franchise, EA touched on what players can expect from this change.
EA Sports FC brings the strength of more than 300 individual licensed partners, giving players access to more than 19,000 athletes across 700 teams, in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues around the world. Through EA Sports FC, EA will further grow the reach and power of its football licensing portfolio by retaining and expanding the licensed football content, scaling to new experiences, and increasing access through more platforms. EA will also build on a foundation of inclusivity and innovate in new areas around both women’s and grassroots football for the global community.
The introduction of EA Sports FC will not impact any current EA SPORTS global football games, and EA and FIFA are excited to deliver the greatest, most expansive EA SPORTS™ FIFA ever later this fall. Our final FIFA product will also include more game modes, features, teams, leagues, players, and competitions than any previous edition. Fans will be able to experience these innovations across the full EA SPORTS FIFA ecosystem including FIFA Mobile, FIFA Online 4, and eSports.
EA has developed the most extensive and comprehensive network of partnerships and licenses in the sport – all in the name of delivering a truly immersive experience to fans everywhere. EA SPORTS FC will be the only place fans can play in the iconic UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Serie A, and MLS, among many others. The breadth and depth of EA’s ecosystem of licensed content will enable it to offer unrivaled authenticity in EA SPORTS football games, now and for many years to come.
EA Press Release
How this plays out will be interesting to see, though EA notes further details will be revealed Summer 2023.
