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FIFA is planning a future without EA in gaming and esports

FIFA's latest commercial commitment to gaming follows a recent tease by Electronic Arts to drop the FIFA licensing in its soccer games.

TJ Denzer

October 18, 2021 10:15 AM

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The fallout of partnership between FIFA and Electronic Arts in the future of soccer games is becoming more clear cut with each new announcement between the two parties. While EA renewed its partnership with the FIFPRO global players association, it had previously spoke to the possibility of dropping the FIFA licensing to expand the scope of its games past what was currently possible with FIFA. More recently, FIFA has announced it will be establishing a new commercial commitment to gaming and esports in response.

FIFA announced its new esports and gaming commitment via a press release on the FIFA website on October 18, 2021. In said press release, FIFA announced that it will be opening its efforts to operating with various developers and publishers to better establish a gaming and esports ecosystem, capitalizing on the FIFA World Cup and Women’s World Cup to further aid in the stretch of its campaign and growth in the gaming and competitive sectors.

While FIFA does not explicitly mention Electronic Arts in any of its press release, the proximity of this announcement to EA Sports’ recent announcements and activities which tease dropping the FIFA brand are likely no coincidence. Whether or not EA is there to publish with the FIFA brand, the organization still has a vested interest in keeping an active place in the gaming scene. It seems pretty clear that FIFA is positioning itself to fill the gap that EA leaves behind, even as EA also renewed its partnership with FIFPRO.

One of the rumors going around was the part of Electronic Arts’ decision to drop the FIFA partnership was the cost of licensing. It will be interesting to see what other publishers step up the plate or if their product is capable of capturing player attention the way that EA Sports has. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.