The successful 30-year partnership between FIFA and Electronic Arts came to a tumultuous end last year. As longstanding disputes between the two escalated alongside the football boss’ mounting financial demands, reaching an unsustainable point, both parties decided to part ways.
Although Electronic Arts continued its work by releasing EA SPORTS FC 24 after the end of the cooperation, FIFA remained silent throughout this period. That said, indications suggest that this situation may change in the near future. However, fans are unlikely to welcome this development.
2K Games May Develop New FIFA Games, but Fans Are Worried
The termination of the partnership between Electronic Arts and FIFA sparked great curiosity regarding which studio would develop the new FIFA games. There were also claims about whether the football’s boss would exit the gaming industry altogether after three decades of partnership. However, recent developments indicate quite the opposite.
According to MohPlay Inc.’s claim, 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, will be the studio tasked with developing new FIFA games. While this might appear to be a logical step given its experience in developing franchises like NBA 2K and WWE 2K, it has raised significant concerns among fans.
Although it is not official yet, some folks celebrate this claim, while others say that things will get even worse for the franchise. Some fans who reacted harshly to this development took it a step further and said that the studio would now turn FIFA, or FIFA 2K as it will be known in the future, into garbage after NBA 2K and WWE 2K.
Another concern of the fan base is financial. They fear that 2K Games will target fans’ wallets with many elements, including expensive in-game items.
Although all this divides the fan base into two, we should point out that there is still no official statement. However, this claim was attributed to FIFA president Gianni Infantino saying, “We are developing new partners and a new game. Get ready!”
The fact that these claims surfaced just a few days after his statement indicates that something is going on. If this is true, we will receive the first game of the new partnership, FIFA 2K25, later this year.
Electronic Arts Is Doing Well Without FIFA Collaboration
Electronic Arts released EA SPORTS FC 24 late last year, following the end of many years of collaboration. The only difference here was the name of the game, and in short, fans basically continued playing a FIFA game.
Electronic Arts’ financial results for the third quarter ending December 31, 2023, are an important indicator that the game received solid feedback from the community. According to the report, the title exceeded the studio’s expectations, delivering 7% year-over-year net bookings growth.
The success of EA SPORTS FC 24 is not limited to this. Although the game was released in late 2023, it managed to become the best-selling game of 2023 in the UK by selling 2.25 million copies in a short time.
So, what do you think about this? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!
