By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
Some video game franchises are so iconic, like the changing seasons, there will always be a new one. FIFA Soccer, or FIFA Football, depending on what country you’re in, is one of those franchises; but lately it feels like the popular game has become complacent and somewhat stale.
EA Sport’s FIFA Soccer 2006 is one of my favorite sports games. When it was released almost two decades ago; I couldn’t wait to get out of class and play a match, before I would work on my homework. On the weekends, I would play FIFA so much that I would lose track of time and realize it was suddenly Sunday. I found it difficult to put down my controller and turn off the addictive game.
The glorious EA Sports FIFA 2006!
FIFA 2006 doesn’t seem that much different than FIFA ’22. There haven’t been many radical changes to the franchise in years. Perhaps that’s why FIFA is the bestselling sports franchise, generating more than $20 billion in sales over the last twenty years. FIFA is such a popular game because gamers who love the franchise don’t particularly like big changes to the familiar gameplay and graphics. In all fairness, EA Sports’ Madden hasn’t changed that much in the last decade either.
The last EA Sports FIFA will be the ’23 edition
I like watching the PS4 Tournament Open Series. I get more enjoyment watching FIFA tournaments online than I do other EA Sports games on the market. Madden tournaments are fun to watch on television, but they’re on all the time. FIFA tournaments are less frequent, which makes them more entertaining and pleasurable when I happen to find one.
FIFA ’28 (or EA FC by then) will likely look a lot like FIFA ’22. The sports franchise is a gaming institution that’ll still be going strong decades from now. The players will change, but the game modes and graphics will not change dramatically.
It was recently announced that FIFA and EA Sports will end their successful partnership. The game will not change because of the breakup, most of the world’s popular clubs and players will still be playable because of separate licensing deals.
image source: clutchpoints