As you might recall, there's been a huge shake-up in the world of the video game football - with Electronic Arts dropping the FIFA brand in favour of 'EA Sports FC'. The third-party video game giant has now officially unveiled its new brand image, inviting players to "join the club this July" with a first proper look and more details.
Nintendo has even showcased this new look on its official social media channels on behalf of Electronic Arts. The same graphic also seemingly confirms a Switch version is on the way.
In an official press release, EA mentioned how it would debut the 'EA Sports FC' brand in more than 100 matches across the biggest leagues in the world. It also provided a detailed breakdown of the design:
"The new brand takes its design inspiration directly from the beautiful game and a dominant shape in football culture that represents the sport in multiple dimensions, triangles. From passing techniques to set plays, the shape has also been woven into the DNA of EA SPORTS football experiences for decades; from the isometric angles of our very first 8-bit experiences and the triangular polygons that make up every pixel of our most modern games, as well the iconic player indicator symbol that appears above every athlete in every match."
Although EA is dropping the FIFA branding, FIFA has previously said it would working with other developers to launch a new line of football games. Here's what FIFA's president Gianni Infantino previously had to say about this - assuring football fans there'll only ever be one "authentic" FIFA game:
"I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football [soccer] fans. The FIFA name is the only global, original title. FIFA 23, FIFA 24, FIFA 25 and FIFA 26, and so on - the constant is the FIFA name and it will remain forever and remain the best"
What do you think of this new look? Comment below.
Comments 48
Good games are all that matters.
And somehow EA will still manage to bring a legacy version to Switch.
Isn't it odd that the recent Game Trials was FIFA 23 and now Nintendo promoting this directly on their socials.
I also love how the article says 'seemingly' confirming a Switch version, yet the Switch logo is in the bottom left-hand corner. This is more than seemingly, it's 100% confirmed.
I sure can't wait to hear the phrase "EA Sports FC 2023 will feature the same Gameplay features and modes from FIFA 23 Legacy Edition without any new development or significant enhancements" all over again!
I wonder what this Infantino guy knows about game development to make such a claim 😛
"from the isometric angles of our very first 8-bit experiences"
WUT. The first isometric football game from EA was a 16 bit title, the very first "FIFA International Soccer" on Megadrive. Sure, this game was later ported to 8-bit systems, the GameBoy, Game Gear, and (in Brazil) Master System, (as well as 16-bit SNES, MS-DOS and Mega CD) but none of this happened until nearly a year after the surprise hit that the Megadrive version was.
I can't quite believe that such a fundemental misunderstanding of the history of EA Sports' biggest franchise managed to end up in a press release of something THIS important and monumental to the brand going forward.
I'm not the biggest fan of modern EA, nor what happened to their yearly (or even more frequent in some years!) near identical releases, having "free to play" predatory mechanics inserted into a full priced game, buying companies/IPs that I like then destroying them... but two things:
1) It can't be overstated just how revolutionary that original game was at the time, and also in general what a high bar EA had for quality back then (Road Rash! Strike Series!) and:
2) SCREW FIFA I'm glad that hive of scum and villainy will no longer be getting royalties from the hard work of the devs of the games. EA should have separated from the brand decades ago, and the reason FIFA is such a well known organisation worldwide today is EA raising their profile.
"Lord Triesman, the former chairman of the English Football Association, described FIFA as an organization that 'behaves like a mafia family', highlighting the organization's 'decades-long traditions of bribes, bungs and corruption' "
Regardless of my feelings on EA, FIFA are the real villains on a worldwide scale. I'm glad EA are separating and no longer feeling prisoner to the brand they created. I like the new logo, its a very smart design, reminding people of the "EA" of their own logo that people have seen every single time they've booted up their favourite football game since 1993. Though "FIFA" became shorthand for the game that fans play, I'd be willing to bet money on the fans loyalty shifting over to this new series, rather than "mistakenly" buying whatever new game has the FIFA logo on it.
Did FIFA ever specify who is taking over the next FIFA-brandes games?
Free marketing advice for the EA reps reading this (!)
Release new update patches for all the versions of FIFA 23 and 22... make the title screen, icon and link text read "EA Sports FIFA 23". Put pitch-side advertising and logos on the tv-style graphical presentation bits (like the replays etc) that contain "EA Sports FC" branding. Even the most casual fan who just plays every day and doesn't keep up to date with gaming news will become familiar with it, and when the new game drops, they will know its the new name for the game they buy every year. Simple.
@samuelvictor I disagree, I don't want any company messing with my games after it's launched unless they are fixing issues or bugs. We've already allowed companies to get too comfy releasing unfinished games and then patching them later.
@5th313ment As a consumer, I agree with you entirely.
But as someone who's main job is an entertainment industry producer and marketing / brand adviser, this is the smart thing to do. I wasn't suggesting changing the name of the game, just emphasising that its "EA Sports FIFA" rather than just "FIFA". I don't think many players would be annoyed by a title screen changing, and it would be a free, subtle way to implant the idea into the core fans heads that the important thing is the company making the game, not the brand, so when a new "FIFA" game launches but it doesn't have the EA branding all over it, they will realise that something is off.
As for the new logo being added to the old game in the traditional advertising spots (again not changing the actual title), I don't play modern FIFA games, but its my understanding that the logos and pitch side adverts regularly change on a week to week basis, EA sell the rights to those advertising spots for certain time windows and regularly swap them around, so I wasn't suggesting any fundemental change to the game, just that rather than advertising Coke/Ladbrokes/McDonalds etc they start advertising their own brand instead.
Who around here is an attorney so we can file a class action lawsuit if this is branded a “legacy edition” as their is no “legacy” to draw from or if they don’t it can be considered a deceptive reskin of FIFA.
@ecco6t9 If you’re paying by the hour and expect literally zero payout then sure, I’d take that case. I’ll make sure to commiserate with you from my private island.
What a boring title, should had called it EA Sports: World Elite Soccer. That would had been a better and easy to memorize title for a legacy sports soccer game than just FC. Nobody knows what the crap an FC is.
Hopefully both entities can fail mightily with this new endeavor.
@Serpenterror I agree its a boring name, but FC = "Football Club" and is literally in the official name of every British football team. "Manchester United FC", "Arsenal FC", "Everton FC", "Newcastle United FC" etc.
The reason for this naming convention is because many of the teams are named purely by their town - "Liverpool FC", "Chelsea FC" and so on, and the "FC" allows them to not get confused with official teams from the same town for other sports, such as Rugby.
Many other countries have FC in their team names too, almost all the main European ones... for example "Paris Saint-Germain FC", "FC Bayern Munich", "FC Barcelona".
Some have slight variants such as CF like "Real Madrid CF" or SC for American teams, where the S stands for Soccer.
Almost all football fans know that "FC" means "Football Club" and will be used to seeing it on the stadiums, kits, tickets, merchandise etc that they buy to support their teams, so in a way, its a clever way to associate brand loyalty that fans of the series will support the game over rivals (like FIFA!) by feeling they as players are part of a club, in the same way they enjoy supporting their chosen team.
Makes me think of this moment in The Simpsons:
"Our customers buy Duff for its robust taste, not its alcoholic content. I predict our alcohol-free Duff Zero will sell even better than its previous brand."
@Savage_Joe. CTRL+F “FIFA logo” CTRL+V “EA FC Logo”. Job done.
@Serpenterror What is "soccer"?
My best FIFA memory was the original “FIFA International Soccer” in the Megadrive. The use of soccer in an international context showed how much EA and FIFA really cared about football as a sport. There was one team in that game which was so bad you could score a goal from kickoff. The team was Qatar.
But when does the EAFCDLC launch?
For some reason when I clicked on this article I was hoping it would be news about FIFA's new game. That's the interesting wildcard in this story. We all know that EA Sports FC is essentially going to be more of what we're used to from them, but the new FIFA? It could be a hilariously amateur trainwreck. It could be a high quality partnership with a AAA dev which brings real competition into the market. It could be something that shoots for a different angle, like NFL Blitz or Mario Strikers. Or (more likely) the opposite direction: something so completely unimaginative while blandly competent that we all get the joy of seeing our suspicions realised.
Doug Bowser still shilling for EA? Honestly, their footy games for Switch have been disrespectful at best. Their other sports titles have been non existent. The best selling console in decades doesn't have a Madden game. How bonkers is that!
@MrGawain Right after EAFCUT.
FC = Fudged Content
FC = Flippin Con
FC = Fifty % Complete
I could go on ......
The last "great" EA sports game (MetaCritic score over "85") was
FIFA 17, from 7 years ago...
I wonder why EA are dropping their allegiance with the highly corrupt FIFA
@Duncanballs
I was going to post something very similar - F***ing Cr@p
Is it wrong that I get more American Football vibes, than UK, from that logo?
Sounds like FIFA 24 could actually be worth playing
@Dman10 Yep because the Switch is weak. When Nintendo finally gives us some four-year-old tech, we can finally have the nice things.
@YANDMAN The relative power of the hardware doesn't excuse EA's scummy practice of releasing what amounts to the exact same software with a minimal data update, at the price of a brand new game, every single year.
@sanderev It's what English originally called football
@samuelvictor this is a good idea, also quite funny. I wonder if there is a pin anti-competitor clause in the contract that would block this?
What an absurd name. An FC? What is an FC? In my country we call it Socksball because of the ball and the splendid long socks. It should be called FIFA SB: Ultimate Kicking Unleashed: The Game.
@Herna hahaha Wikipedia is not the only source of information and you care enough to use it!.
@KIRO Thank you. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm 99.9% certain that they can "change" how the title of the game is displayed to more prominantly feature the name of their company (ie the "EA Sports" bit) as its not actually renaming the game. The advertising logos on the pitch, HUD etc almost certainly have anti-competition text written in to the contracts, newly signed whenever a new sponsor is added, but as they would only technically be advertising their Football videogame game brand, I find it highly unlikley that they've previously had paid advertising from a rival football game owned by a different company... so I'm pretty sure its a "free" and easy win to help smooth the transition period over.
Cant wait to play again a Xbox360 port on Switch with updated roster. Feels like its 2009 again
@Herna in Portugal. Several clubs set up already in England. No one should care whether it is called soccer or football. Although for some reason you do when you don't.
Herna is correct, that is the origin of the word soccer; intrinsically British.
@samuelvictor Don't let a Newcastle fan see you drop the United from thier name, they hate that XD.
@HeeHo I'm raging with anger about that 😂
In all seriousness without the FIFA license does this mean NUFC will be renamed Tyneside a la the good old Pro Evo unlicensed days?
Missed opportunity for "eaFootball".
It'll be the same in everything except for this new dull name.
They need to bring in Madden Football to the Nintendo Switch, only selling the games to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One that’s not fair and it’s rude not to include the Switch
Terrible logo. I have farted out better than that in my sleep.
I actually really like the logo, but I'm not gonna play it.
@HeeHo Noted, thanks. I've edited my post!
@Kochambra That's literally what they do for all the other platforms, only with more stuff which is relatable to the extra power of the systems. They've literally done this same thing with every franchise since the nineties.
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