With a new FIFA waiting in the wings, the developers of EA Sports FC 25 have welcomed genuine competition in the soccer video game space amid rumours of a new FIFA game entering the market.
EA Sports ditched the FIFA license in 2022, launching its new FC series with FC 24 in 2023. However, the FIFA series is set to return with a different developer and partner, with 2K heavily rumoured to have taken on the license by partnering with football’s governing body, FIFA.
2K, owned by Take-Two, already makes a number of successful annualized sports games including its NBA 2K series. FIFA then, may relaunch under this banner, titled FIFA 2K.
READ HERE: EA Sports FC 25: Latest News, Release Info And More
In May, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed a new FIFA game was in the works, saying:
We will develop a new e-game, because (the) football simulation game is called FIFA. For hundreds of millions of children around the world, when they play (a) football simulation game, they play FIFA. It cannot be named something else.
EA Sports has had its own way with football video games for years now, with Konami, once the market leader with its Pro Evolution Soccer series, struggling to compete with EA particularly when it comes to high-profile licenses. Konami went through its own rebrand, switching from PES to the eFootball series with disastrous results.
Karthik Venkateshan, Line Producer on Ultime Team, believes that renewed competition for EA can only be a good thing for players of football games.
Speaking to IGN. Venkateshan said, "As creatives, it's always so interesting to see how other people are approaching the same problem spaces that we're approaching, how they are interpreting football, how they want to solve the same things for other players. And, I don't know, it energizes me as a football fan myself."
Game Design Director on Ultimate Team Richard Walz agreed with Venkateshan, saying:
As a player as well, I think it can only be a great thing for our players in our community. Yeah, that's great.
EA Sports is often accused of failing to justify the €70 cost of its new football video game each year, with some suggesting FC would be better off as a potentially free-to-play live service with paid expansions.
Perhaps FIFA 2025 will serve not only to shake up the football video game market but EA Sports itself.
