No FIFA game is ever expected to not do well, and FIFA 22, to no one’s surprise, has gotten off to a great start as well. EA Sports recently sent out a press release commemorating the game’s launch, announcing that it has already amassed 9.1 million players, who’ve collectively made 7.6 million Ultimate Team squads and played over 460 million matches.
Interestingly enough, the press release also briefly discusses the future of the franchise, with one interesting point being that EA is considering renaming its franchise and dropping the FIFA name. The company says: “As we look ahead, we’re also exploring the idea of renaming our global EA SPORTS football games. This means we’re reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world.”
One would imagine that the FIFA license would cost a lot of money, and as EA looks to maximize its profits, it’s not surprising that they’re considering such a change, especially since this wouldn’t effect other official licenses included in the games, which has traditionally been a strong selling point for the series. Konami’s competing series Pro Evolution Soccer also recently rebranded itself as eFootball– though one would hope that a similar transition for FIFA would go more smoothly.
FIFA 22 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia, as well as on the Nintendo Switch as yet another Legacy Edition release.
