FIFA's Brand Is Bad For EA's Games, CEO Says

screenrant.com:

Major video games publisher EA feels that the FIFA license has been holding its soccer games back, according to recent comments from CEO Andrew Wilson. Wilson's comments follow several stories reporting that the publisher would be parting ways with FIFA and developing sports games under its own trademark.

In the world of sports simulation games, there are few franchises that are more successful, more well-known, than FIFA. The best-selling series of soccer games have been produced and published by EA for decades, with their annual releases becoming staples in yearly video game coverage. While the franchise has its competitors in Konami's eFootball and UFL, the FIFA name is nearly synonymous with soccer games and modern sports games as a whole. The FIFA trademark has allowed EA to utilize branding and marketing rights for its releases, and many would argue that this instantly recognizable brand is part of why EA has cornered the soccer video game market. Eyebrows started to get raised regarding the relationship of these two groups last year when EA silently filed a trademark for EA Sports FC  — a clear signal that the company would be moving on from the FIFA naming scheme.

Related: Every Sports Game Finally Featuring Women's Teams

In a series of telling remarks, EA CEO Andrew Wilson told staff members in an internal meeting his opinions when it came to the value of the FIFA brand. As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Wilson made it clear that the FIFA title was little more than "four letters on a box" as far as its benefit to the company and its products. Wilson would go on to state that the world governing body of soccer was holding the company back when it came to both branding rights (FIFA has an exclusive deal with