In a move that may seem surprising to some, Electronic Arts have announced that after this years FIFA 23 is released, the FIFA line of soccer games will be no more, because in 2024 the series will be known as EA Sports FC.

It is important to note that while the name is changing, players, teams, clubs, stadiums and more will remain as they are, because the agreement with each of them has been reached independently of FIFA.

“Our vision for EA SPORTS FC is to create the largest and most impactful football club in the world, at the epicenter of football fandom,” said Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson. “For nearly 30 years, we’ve been building the world’s biggest football community - with hundreds of millions of players, thousands of athlete partners, and hundreds of leagues, federations, and teams.  EA SPORTS FC will be the club for every one of them, and for football fans everywhere.”

With the new agreements in place, that means players can look forward to 19,000 athletes across 700 teams, in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues from around the world.

For those that are worried that the reveal now of the name change to EA Sports FC will impact this years release of FIFA 23, both EA and FIFA have confirmed that this years entry will deliver the greatest, most expansive EA Sports FIFA ever later this year. The final FIFA branded product will also include more game modes, features, teams, leagues, players, and competitions than any previous edition. Fans will be able to experience these innovations across the full EA SPORTS FIFA ecosystem including FIFA Mobile, FIFA Online 4, and eSports. 

Wilson continued: “We’re thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA.  The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger.  We have an incredible opportunity to put EA SPORTS FC at the heart of the sport, and to bring even more innovative and authentic experiences to the growing football audience.”

Below you can see just a few tweets from the teams and companies that are on board with this change, with more details expected in early 2023.

Finally, there were no platforms announced for this new soccer game, which means that if you play on something today, it could be supported with this new game, though honestly Switch players are likely going to get shafted once again.