Recent information shared by anonymous employees of Electronic Arts to Video Games Chronicle confirm what had been talked about in recent months about the company’s successful soccer franchise: a desire by EA to no longer use the name of FIFA. Apparently, EA CEO would consider FIFA more of a hindrance than a help in his sales.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson reportedly made these comments during an executive meeting in November, shortly after releasing the statement discussing name considerations. FIFA. Apparently, relations with the football federation have been seriously analyzed.
The moment is critical because this year is the Soccer World Cup in Qatar. FIFA 23 It hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s expected to get a lot of hype from the excitement of the event. In addition, it is known that this edition will include the two FIFA world tournaments: men’s and women’s.
On the other hand (and more importantly), this year the deal on the image rights of the FIFA brand ends. For a next business, FIFA is demanding double what it had received so far: about $2.5 billion. The deal typically lasts 10 years, so if there’s ever a time to break ties, it’s in the next few months.
Why would EA prefer to change the name of FIFA and why is this an impediment?
Beyond the astronomical fee, Wilson focused on other elements to consider not closing the deal again. One of them is the little use of the name in years in which the World Cup is not played:
I would say, and this may be a bit biased, that the brand FIFA it has more meaning as a video game than as the governing body of football. (…) Basically, what we get from FIFA in a year without a World Cup is the four letters on the front of the box, in a world where most people don’t even see the box anymore because they buy the game digitally.
Aside from that, Wilson noted that FIFA has been more of an impediment to the growth of EA’s game. For example, he said players have called for new commercial and cultural brands to come to the franchise. This is the case of Nike, who has not made his appearance due to the treatment that the football organization has with adidas.
He also noted that they have tried to work on offering game modes other than the typical 11 against 11, but that the licenses and restrictions have not allowed it. Due to the fact that they are trying to work with more creativity and agility, they are trying to “split the blankets” with FIFA and have their own brand without the ties of third parties.
Source: Video Games Chronicle
