The recent announcement that Electronic Arts (EA) no longer has a licence to use the FIFA brand with any new football games means that computer games of the world’s biggest sport, football is about to change forever.
Today, I will try to be a soothsayer and explore what these changes are likely to be.
Two types of computer football games
There are two distinct types of football games at the moment. The first is the arcade-style simulation which the FIFA series of games dominate.
The second distinct type is the football games that simulate football management which the football manager game currently dominates. You can read my review of Football manager 2022 here.
Both FIFA and Football manager have this in common they release a new version of the game every year at around the start of a new Football season here in the UK and Europe. Each new game comes with an updated player database and updated or new features. These games slowly evolve with each new release.
How will football video games change
I would be astonished if EA didn’t release a new football game in 2022. It will, of course, no longer have FIFA in its name, but it will, in essence, be the same game along with any changes EA had been planning to make to the game. The only question is, what will EA call the new game?
FIFA has also stated that they will look to publish future FIFA games, requiring them to work with another games publisher. Developing a triple AAA game like FIFA takes time. Suppose a new FIFA branded game is to be released in time for the world cup, starting in November. It requires FIFA to licence the brand with a company that already publishes or a developer who already has a football game, such as Konomi, who published Pro Evo Soccer and, more recently, eFootball.
When Championship manager became Football manager
I have already mentioned Football manager in this article, and Football manager has already gone through a significant change like the current FIFA series of games is currently going through.
Except it was the game publisher and the game developer who split up. Instead of a publisher splitting with the rights holders as is the case with the FIFA games
With Football Manager, the developer Sports Interactive walked away with the championship manager code, and the underlying database Eidos kept the rights to the Championship manager name and brand.
Sports Interactive released the next game in the series under the football manager name with Sega. Through clever marketing and game reviews, people quickly realised that it was Championship manager under a different name.
Of course, Eidos released a new Championship manager game in partnership with a new developer. Still, this game needed to be developed from scratch, and the Championship Manager, released after the split, wasn’t considered as good a game as Football Manager. The series finally died.
Conclusion
Will the EA game continue to be the dominant game, or will a new game with the FIFA licence take over. What happened to Football management suggests that EA football games will have the advantage over any new game with the FIFA licence.
I would love to know your thoughts on this?