Ea and FIFA have come to an agreement that will allow the developer/publisher to maintain exclusive right to the title until 2022. The FIFA series is widely regarded as one of, if not the top sports game on the market and is a huge portion of the sales each year. This will come as welcomed news to fans of the series. FIFA maintains a huge following in the US as well as over-seas. This deal will maintain the standard that EA will be the only publishers with the rights to release FIFA branded action and management titles. This would include the yearly installment of the game as well as any World Cup branded titles that will be released during the course of the deal.
EA SPORTS released the first FIFA-branded soccer game in 1993, and 20 years later our partnership with FIFA continues to be very strong, said Andrew Wilson, Executive Vice President and Head of EA SPORTS. Our franchise has become the benchmark for quality and innovation in the sports videogame genre, and we look forward to many more years of connecting with consumers around the world with our games carrying the prestigious FIFA name.
Our relationship with EA SPORTS is of high importance to FIFA, said Jérôme Valcke, FIFA Secretary General. The FIFA videogames are a key experiential component in our work to communicate the FIFA brand and its values all over the world. This is highlighted by the 2.5 million football fans that have competed in this year’s FIFA Interactive World Cup, which is just one example of the power of our partnership with EA.
Hmmm… EA purchases exclusive rights to a gaming franchise… sounds vaguely familiar… like that other big company that buys up all the rights to most of the games out there… no… wait… that’s still EA
its definitely in the game now
I saw the blue shirt with the big yellow number on it, and was like, OMG NEW FALLOUT GAME!? And then was immediately disappointed.