EA Boss Reportedly Says FIFA Brand Is "Impeding" Its Ambitions

thegamer.com:

EA CEO Andrew Wilson reportedly spoke with employees last November regarding the publisher's agreements with FIFA over the naming rights of its premium football franchise of the same name. Wilson has allegedly said the FIFA license has been holding EA back and stated that its only value is "four letters on the box."

This news comes from a report from VGC, which claims that negotiations between EA and FIFA over licensing agreements couldn't be any more frayed. EA is apparently restricted to experimenting outside the standard 11v11 formula, and it was revealed after the launch of FIFA 22 that FIFA is asking for $1 billion for the publisher to retain the naming rights for the next four years.

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If this report is accurate, it would imply that EA has no intention to keep the FIFA license and will likely name the series something else. The FIFA series could continue under another developer, but the series most are familiar with will probably undergo a rebrand before the next iteration launches later this year.

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Joshua Robertson is a News Writer for TheGamer, based in Barnsley, England. When not playing or writing about Pokemon, Yakuza, or Fallout, he can usually be found spending too much time on Twitter @JoshRobertson97.