In some recently leaked comments, the CEO of Electronic ArtsAndrew Wilson, explained why the company is considering concluding its licensing agreement with FIFA. EA has already stated that it plans to change the title of its popular football franchise. These statements were made by the CEO at a company meeting and then shared by the VGC editorial team.
Electronic Arts ends relations with FIFA?
Wilson suggested that the deal with the FIFA branding is unnecessarily restrictive, while not providing enough value to the company. “Basically, what we get from FIFA in a non-World Cup year are the four letters on the front of the box,” Wilson said.
Although through this agreement EA gets access to its own world Cup every four years, the company also has over 300 other licensing agreements that allow it to use the names and likenesses of players, teams and leagues without the need for a specific contract with FIFA.
According to the CEO, therefore, FIFA would impose excessive restrictions on what EA can do with its games. For example, the association has repeatedly put its mouth on the various game modes present in the series and would be against the expansion of the videogame franchise in other digital ecosystems. It is not clear what this means, but we suspect that some kind of is involved metaverso.
“FIFA is just the name on the box, but they have precluded us from being able to branch into the areas that players would like to explore for the game,” Wilson said. There is also the fact that FIFA seems to have requested one percentage far superior on revenue from video games, an element that undoubtedly played into this stance by the CEO.