EA Sports is dropping the FIFA licence and changing the title of their football game to EA Sports Football Club. At least, that’s the word from one reliable industry insider, and it matches with a trademark the company filed last year. EA publicly floated the idea of dropping the ‘FIFA’ name in a message to players around the same time.
EA Sports Football Club, or EA Sports FC, is the title of the sports series going forward, according to insider Jeff Grubb on the latest GrubbSnax podcast. While the name could change prior to an official announcement, this is the title the company is using internally for the game.
According to Grubb, it’s about the money for EA – the publisher doesn’t want to keep paying for FIFA’s expensive licensing fees when, they believe, players are coming for the game, not the name. Grubb suggests that FIFA will now be looking to make its own game branded under the FIFA name, though what developer the football association would partner with is up in the air.
Polygon reported in October 2021 that EA had filed an ‘EA Sports FC’ trademark. Around the same time, EA Sports GM Cam Weber said in a blog post that the studio was “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 licences across the football world.”
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