EA Sports FC is preparing for its long-awaited launch, after the break between Electronic Arts and FIFA that led to the end of the historic video game saga that bore the name of the mother house of world soccer. And the future looks very interesting for the successor to FIFA 23which has just been guaranteed the continuity of the Copa Libertadores and other CONMEBOL tournaments.
Both EA and the South American Football Confederation announced the renewal of a multi-year agreement between the parties. This means that the club competitions organized by the entity with headquarters in Paraguay will be present in EA Sports FCand everything indicates that it will be for several deliveries.
The announcement is really important, considering that the saga FIFA It has immense popularity in South America. In this way, Electronic Arts seeks that its next soccer game, a flagship of its sports catalogue, does not lose relevance in the region despite the name change.
EA and CONMEBOL have not mentioned how many years they have renewed their relationship, nor how much money has been put on the table. What is confirmed is that the players of EA Sports FC they will be able to play both the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamericana and the Recopa Sudamericana.
But this is not all. The agreement also includes the continuity of Electronic Arts as CONMEBOL’s official partner for the development of the eLibertadoresthe eSports tournament organized since 2021. This event held its first three editions in the games of FIFA (the 2023 edition was defined last February in Buenos Aires, Argentina), and everything indicates that from 2024 it will be held in EA Sports FC.
EA Sports FC adds deals for the post-FIFA
Since the end of his relationship with FIFA was announced, Electronic Arts has made it clear that its plans for EA Sports FC they are very ambitious. Despite no longer having the endorsement of the highest global soccer entity, the developers have guaranteed the continuity of the licenses of the best tournaments and clubs in the world.
In fact, the website dedicated to EA Sports FC still doesn’t reveal too much about the game that will debut later this year. However, it does serve to presume that it will continue to offer competitions such as LaLiga, the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A, the German Bundesliga, the French Ligue 1, the Argentine Professional League and the American MLS, among many others.
As for continental proposals, the continuity of the CONMEBOL competitions gives a more than attractive panorama to the new EA game. Let’s keep in mind that, in addition to the Libertadores, the Sudamericana and the Recopa, the players will continue to have access to all the UEFA tournaments. That is, Champions League (male and female), Europa League and Conference League.
Last April, Electronic Arts revealed the new logo of EA Sports FC. While next July the company will give a first look at what its first football game of the post-era will bring.FIFA. It is likely that the American firm will focus on showing off the continuity of the licenses of the most important competitions, but it will also be interesting to see how the future of FUT is planned and what differentiating elements will allow you to cut ties with the past.
FIFA’s passivity and a promising future for EA
At the time, andrew wilson, CEO of EA, said that in a year without a World Cup, FIFA’s only added value was four letters in a box. And that the entity today directed by Gianni Infantino imposed many restrictions on them, both creative and commercial.
“Our players tell us that they want more cultural and commercial brands relevant to them in their markets. Brands like Nike. But since FIFA has a relationship with Adidas, we can’t do that. Our players tell us that they want more game modes, different things more beyond 11v11, and different types of games. I would tell you it’s been a struggle to get FIFA to recognize the types of proposals that we want to create, because they say our license only covers certain categories. They tell us they want us to move very quickly. And to do that, we need a level of freedom that allows us to be really creative and innovative and experiment in the market.”
Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts.
Beyond the licences, the experience and the desire for innovation, a great point in favor of EA Sports FC the thing is it does not have a direct rival that overshadows it. That’s not to say that other soccer games don’t exist, but none are of the caliber of Electronic Arts.
Pro Evolution Soccer had a huge fan base and a fabulous community of moddersbut Konami turned away from them to lean over eFootball, whose launch was a disaster. While the franchise football manager enjoys significant popularity, but under a different playable imprint than the one offered FIFA and to which he promises to bestow EA Sports FC.
To this is added that, although FIFA has made it clear that it does not intend to throw in the towel with its own soccer video game, no certain plan has been known since the break with Electronic Arts. At the time it was rumored about a possible approach to Take-Two Interactive to create a FIFA 2Kbut the publisher herself ruled it out.
For now, EA Sports FC strengthens ahead of its premiere this year. We’ll see what great news its developers surprise us with in July.