EA Sports has been hard at work on its anticipatedEA Sports FCand has just unveiled the new logo for its flagship soccer game that will replace itsFIFAseries. EA had been producingFIFAgames for nearly three decades starting withFIFA International Soccerthat released in 1993 on the historic Sega Mega Drive and Genesis systems. EA shipped it’s 30th and final FIFA-branded game in 2022marking the end of an era withF|FA 23.One of the main attractions inFIFAgames in recent years has been the popular FIFA Ultimate Team mode, often referred to simply as FUT. AnEA trademark revealed that FUT would retain the familiar acronymby rebranding it to Football Ultimate Team while retaining the core gameplay of allowing players to build their dream teams by purchasing booster packs and trading with other players. The game mode on its own has generated ridiculous amounts of money; in 2021 EA reported that FUT generated $1.62 billion making up 29 percent of its entire business.RELATED:EA Sports PGA Tour Deluxe Edition Includes a Free GameEA Sportshas unveiled the new logo forEA Sports FCahead of release later this year. The new logo is a segmented triangle featuring stylized lettering and is inspired by the active player icon that has appeared above the controlled player’s head inFIFAgames since time immemorial. “We can’t wait to show you the future of football this July,” goes the tweet in which this was revealed, but this is not indicative of an early release. EA Sports is going to release an in-depth showcase of its new game according to the official website.
While FIFA plans to make anew soccer game carrying its brand without EAit is likely that fans of the series will be cautious about aFIFAtitle in the hands of a new developer. However, one interesting possibility could be a partnership with Konami who has historically developed thePro Evolution Soccerseries that has recently (as of 2021) been rebranded aseFootball. This is, of course, pure speculation, but it will be interesting to see what FIFA does with its iconic brand.
In spite of the rebrand it seems thatEA Sports has secured contractswith a number of association football bodies including the English Premier League, German Bundesliga, and Spanish LaLiga, among others. As such, the game will feature some of the world’s most popular soccer stars with the main tradeoff apparently being that it will not feature national teams.
