Could EA Sports be rebranding its longtime soccer sim? According to EA Group GM Cam Weber, it’s not being ruled out. In a press release published to EA’s website, Weber stated the company is “exploring the idea of renaming our global EA Sports football games.” Continuing, “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.”
What We Know About The Possible FIFA Rebrand
As the release notes, FIFA games rely heavily on the collective strength of over 300 individual license partners. These agreements give EA access to more than 17,000 athletes across 700-plus teams. Additionally, FIFA games feature 100 stadiums and over 30 teams around the world. It seems as though a FIFA rebrand would be in title only, however. Weber suggested as such, saying, “The breadth of our partnerships and our ecosystem of licensed content will enable us to continue to bring unrivaled authenticity in our EA Sports football games, now and for many years to come.”
FIFA, otherwise known as the Federation Internationale de Football Association, serves as the soccer world’s governing body. It has also been the name of EA Sports’ annual soccer sim since 1993. The two brands are synonymous with each other at this point.
No explanation was given as to why EA would drop the FIFA name. Perhaps the company would rather have its own name in front of its sports titles, similar to the upcoming EA Sports College Football?
More Changes to Come?
A rebrand could be the next in what may be a number of significant changes coming to the game. Back in June, it was rumored that EA’s ever-popular soccer sim could be going free-to-play in the coming years. Similar to how Konami’s eFootball made the change this past summer.
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