EA’s FIFA series of football games will reportedly change its name to EA Sports Football Club, according to an insider and journalist.
That comes from Jeff Grubb on his GrubbSnax show, as transcribed by VGC.
“EA Sports Football Club, EA Sports FC, that’s the name of the game,” said Grubb.
“I saw trademarks for it, I thought that could be just a feature like an online mode, [but] I asked around about it [and] that’s it, that’s the name.”
FIFA also updated its own trademark in Europe last week, explicitly mentioning the name being used for video games. This could mean FIFA is looking to license the name out separately from EA soon.
“They are ready to move on, they have another name lined up […] We should hear about it here pretty soon,” Grubb added of EA. VGC’s sources have also indicated that this year’s EA football title may be called FIFA 23 before the name changes, as the license expires after the Qatar World Cup.
It’s also believed that this year’s title will include both a men’s and women’s World Cup, which VGC says could add “credence to the possibility [EA] will use the FIFA name one last time.”
In October of last year, EA said it was reviewing its “naming rights agreement with FIFA” after the release of FIFA 22. It was then reported that FIFA was seeking over double what it receives from EA for the brand, estimated to be around £133million ($150million).
Earlier in the year, anonymous comments suggested that EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in an internal meeting that EA has been “impeded” by the FIFA branding. Wilson added that the only value the games get in a non-World Cup year is “four letters on the front of the box”.
In other news, Wolverine and 343 Industries have teamed up to sell a pair of £170 Halo shoes.
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