Well folks, it's official: EA Sports has ended its partnership with FIFA and has rebranded its tentpole football series as 'EA Sports FC'.
The move has been in the making for quite a while but has now been confirmed via an announcement from EA itself. The statement clarifies that everything in the FIFA series will be retained for the future rebrand (we can literally hear Switch owners guffawing as we write this), with "over 19,000+ players, 700+ teams, 100+ stadiums and 30 leagues" that the publisher has invested in over the course of decades.
Perhaps most importantly for Switch owners specifically, the announcement supposedly heralds big change for the franchise going forwards, with the company stating:
"This is much more than just a change of symbol - as EA SPORTS, we’re committed to ensuring EA SPORTS FC is a symbol of change."
Hmm... We'll see. Of course, as you're no doubt aware already, the FIFA series has been a running joke on Nintendo's platform for several years thanks to its 'Legacy' approach, with the most recent entry, FIFA 22, receiving a dismal 2/10 in our review for the game.
More info on EA Sports FC will be provided in Summer 2023, so we'll have plenty of time to ruminate on the new name and ponder what kind of changes the company will bring to the series on Switch.
What do you think of this announcement from EA? Sound off in the comments below!
[source ea.com]
Comments 60
If it isn’t partnered with fifa I’m not buying or playing it. Sounds like a stupid mobile game imo. This will def open the door for a new player or an old player to take some revenue.
They should have paid the money. Football fans want football, not EA.
So for Switch owners, the biggest change that will happen is a name change; which is what has happened for the last few releases.
Its times like this I am so thankful I have zero interest in sport.
Good luck with that awful name.
Come back Konami...
It's not a simple name change, the end of the FIFA x EA partnership will be bad for both of them.
Thankfully the partnership ended.
What are they gaining from this? Are they trying to get out of paying FIFA royalties?
They still won't make a decent switch port so makes no difference to switch users what it's called
FIFA as the entity made a dumb move. They will never receive anywhere as close as the sum of money they did with EA.
@TheDragonDAFan apparently FIFA wanted double to use their name again
@Rainbowjames I’d charge EA triple to use my name. Haha.
I guess it stands for Footcall
Nintendo should release a “modern” version of the nes game Nintendo World Cup to the Switch. Day one for me! 😂
@FX102A EA Sports FC Legacy Edition
Instead of FIFA 23 Legacy Edition, we will be getting EA Sports FC Legacy Edition for Nintendo Switch.
We're gonna keep getting Legacy Editions on Switch because people in Europe keep buying up all this stuff on Switch.
Well… that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. Such a horrible name.
EA Sports "FC" ...... The censored version, "Flippin Con".
I'm sure there are some more mature versions that spring to mind.
Both EA and FIFA have their fair share of negative press (microtransactions, corruption just to name the two big ones), I don't think this news impacts them. I wonder if Konami (or possibly 2K) wants to jump on the brand name after this.
@Franklin I liked PES 2011 and 2012 on the 3DS (never played the FIFA games). The gameplay was really good. ok, they didn't have Liverpool as a licensed club, but they did have club called something like the Merseyside Reds with all of Liverpools players (Daniel Agger was a bit better than the other defenders I remember ).
I guess EA Sports Flip a Coin is a better name than EA Sports LootBox edition.
I'm trying to think of a funny pun for the "FC" part. Footclaws? Flipcoin? Famicom?!
FIFA are the ones that will lose out, and for most people that’s a good thing. Nobody other than EA will be able to afford the 250 million a year fee to use the name and also make money off the game.
Remember, it’s literally just the FIFA name. All clubs, players and leagues will still be licensed as that’s nothing to do with FIFA.
@Peach64 But what about Champions League? Fifa owns that, right?
I'm sure part of the Fifa license said you had to release on every platform. EA didn't want nintendo platforms so the legacy edition got them round that. Without FIFA then they don't even have to do that. No great loss but a decent football game would sell a lot on the switch. Let's see if mario strikers has some depth. Hopefully!
Also a decent hockey game would be good on switch!
@shgamer
UEFA own the champions league. That other corruption free football organisation.
@Chris77 Ok, now you say it; FIFA is the worldwide organisation while UEFA is the european one. Makes sense.
@Rainbowjames IIRC it was like $2 billion over four years. I'm pretty sure EA could of paid it in just one year's edition, but EA being EA, they think that their "games" can sell without the FIFA brand. That being said, maybe they could actually make a new version for the SwitcHAHAHAHA! Like that would happen!
@progx "I’d charge EA triple to use my name."
Triple of zero is still zero though..
There's no competition in this niche for EA anymore. Konami left the game already and they can do whatever the fork they want now. Thats too bad.
This should be interesting....will love to see how the gaming community reacts
EA is a running joke.
Sales are gonna drop, and no longer are people buying this blindly.
Looking forward to EA Sports FC Legacy Edition
Let's see how true the EA Sports slogan holds up.
your guess is as good as mine
Pure speculation, but if EA have been planning this for a few years they could have been holding back on releasing a big update to the Switch version to give them a sales boost when they switch names...or am I giving EA too much credit?!
Now we'll see if people were just paying for the brand of if they'll buy it because it's an EA game, like EA hopes.
Can't wait for EA Sports FC 2024 vs FIFA 2K24
yeah will still be same version with even more ripped out and same price. called EA mugs edition
I’m not an attorney here but can EA be sued for claiming that EA Sports FC is a “legacy edition” when there is no “legacy” to draw from does this mean that Switch owners are entitled to new game?
"we’re committed to ensuring EA SPORTS FC is a symbol of change." sounds like they're going to blame FIFA for their egregious monetization & promise that now things will be different , but of course it will still be the same 'surprise mechanics' simulator
Two words...Sensible...Soccer
@Texasinstrument been playing this on the evercade recently. Love it.
@ObsidianEleven yeah, before high-and-mightily discussing our own pride against EA offers, we'd do well to weigh up the odds of EA coming to us with ANY offers.😅
@ecco6t9 It's likely EA Sports FC won't come to Switch, FIFA (the organization) forces FIFA games to release on all viable platforms (a similar thing is present with MLB). Meanwhile with EA Sports FC, EA will be able to choose the platforms so will likely go with the platforms that have EA Play (the subscription).
Just rename it to EA Football Ultimate Team. It's the only reason why they make these games anyway
No more fifa legacy for switch. Finally.
@Chris77 Best football game ever by a mile! Going to sound dumb - I don't have an evercade can you play handheld? If so I'd buy one just to play sensi handheld!
@Texasinstrument Yep, you can get the original handheld device or the VS is the home console version. Cartridges play on both. Code masters collection is great, so is the Bitmap bros collection. Speedball 2 and sensible soccer are both great on it.
@ObsidianEleven and triple the relief!
A good move by EA. People will still just call it FIFA for a long time and they won't have to pay FIFA for it. By the time people stop calling it FIFA they will already be used to the new name. eFootball being complete garbage made the timing perfect for EA.
I guess this means their next Switch release will have the largest change of their legacy versions yet now that they have to change a few words on the title screen instead of just one number.
The disease is spreading
The best part of this story was left out of the NintendoLife reporting - FIFA itself is planning to continue the series on its own, with a new developer. Should be hilarious to watch xD
EA Sports FC: The Future Of Interactive Football.
Not to be confused with Capstone: The Pinnacle Of Entertainment Software or Apogee: The Height Of Gaming Excitement.
Apogee lived up to its promise... in the early 90s anyway.
@Chris77 Thanks dude I'm ordering one this weekend - literally just for sensible soccer, speedball 2 and Chaos Engine. Picked up the A500 mini a couple of weeks ago and plugged into a crt tv so the Amiga games same look as when I was a kid. Thanks for the info - how is the dpad on the Evercade is it good enough for the games you have played on it?
@Texasinstrument Cool, hope you enjoy it as much as I do. The d pad is not perfect but I've found it good enough. I've enjoyed going back to some old classics, even if some don't hold up as well as you'd like. There are some cracking games available on evercade. Not perfect but for the overall price I think it's a great little machine, and the quick save function works well. Make sure you update the firmware, which you have to do via a PC as there is no WiFi on the machine.
They'll just stop making it for Switch entirely. They wanted to ditch Switch way sooner but the pressure from FIFA to put the license on all platforms was too great. That's why Switch gets a half-baked legacy edition lazily shoved out the door. On the other hand, when the FIFA license lands somewhere else maybe we'll see an actually good game.
Will it be "EA Sports SC" in North America?
@JJtheTexan Especially if FIFA's new game actually manages to outdo EA's legacy releases on the Switch.
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