Electronic Arts has released a statement about the future of its major footballing franchise, FIFA. In it, there is a suggestion that the publisher wants to untangle itself from the FIFA name, and thus from the remits of the official Fédération Internationale de Football Association. EA has publicly posted a press release about the “Future of Football.” It points out that in the future the footballing franchises that the company develops will try to commit to “innovative football experiences across new platforms, […] every level of the sport including grassroots, and accelerating the elevation of the women’s game.” The publisher points out that authenticity is key to what the company wished to achieve in the future, with partnerships with leagues, teams, competitions, and athletes becoming the core component of its “ecosystem of licenced content [that] will enable [EA] to continue to bring unrivalled authenticity in EA SPORTS football games, now and for many years to come.”The result of this is a potential name change, with EA very clearly angling the last sentence of the statement in that direction. “As we look ahead, we’re also exploring the idea of renaming our global EA SPORTS football games. This means we’re reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world.” Indeed, the real-world FIFA has been in a battle with rival governing body UEFA for a while now, particularly after the Super League kerfuffle, and is struggling to keep its control over certain aspects of the sport. So, it is possible that EA might be trying to circumvent these issues by untethering itself from the organisation. What do you think of this news? Do you want a name change? Is this an important move into new territory for EA or just a cosmetic change? Make a public statement of your own in the comments.
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