For some time now, it’s been clear that the partnership between EA Sports and FIFA was going to be changing. For decades, EA Sports has released yearly soccer titles under the name EA Sports FIFA or “FIFA” for shorthand. However, back in October, EA announced that it was exploring changing the name of its yearly soccer franchise away from the FIFA branding. The reason for why this was going to happen ranged from differing viewpoints on how the future of the franchise should be handled as well as how much EA should be paying FIFA to use its name. As more information came out it became clear that a name change was more a matter of when rather than if.
On Tuesday, EA finally announced the new name for its soccer franchise as well as when we can expect that name to become the official title. Starting in July 2023, not too long after the release of FIFA 23, EA Sports will officially be using the name EA Sports FC for its soccer franchise. This means that FIFA 23 will be the final name in the franchise to use that title. EA Sports Cam Weber explained more in a press release.
Next year, EA SPORTS FC will become the future of football from EA SPORTS. Alongside our 300+ license partners across the sport, we’re ready to take global football experiences to new heights, on behalf of all football fans around the world.
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EA SPORTS FC will allow us to realize this future and much more…but not before we deliver our most expansive game ever with our current naming rights partner, FIFA, for one more year. We are committed to ensuring the next FIFA is our best ever, with more features, game modes, World Cup content, clubs, leagues, competitions, and players than any FIFA title before.
For anyone that’s worried about what this means for the future of the franchise, the press release does include quotes from major leagues such as Premier League, La Liga, and UEFA to ensure fans that a new name shouldn’t mean less content for players. If all goes well for fans then this should be a rebrand and little else, but it does mean certain entities — like the World Cup — would be off limits for using the actual name if there’s a complete split with FIFA.
Source: https://uproxx.com/edge/ea-sports-fc-fifa-2023-name-change/
