The recently released FIFA 22 may very well end up being one of the last games in the series to bear that long-standing name, if not the last. Recently, EA suggested that it was considering rebranding the FIFA games and calling them something else, stating that even if it were to cut ties with the organization, it would still hold hundreds of individual licenses that would help it retain its authenticity. Essentially, the only thing that would change would be the series’ name.
Now, more recent developments have suggested that that might actually happen sooner than you’d think. As spotted by VGC, the company recently filed for trademarks for EA Sports FC with both the UK’s Intellectual Property Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
EA’s explicit admission of the fact that its yearly football sim franchise might not be called FIFA in the future has been somewhat surprising, and these trademark filings hot on the heels of those comments certainly suggest that a rebrand is something the company may very well end up committing to. How quickly that happens, or if it even does, remains to be seen.
FIFA 22, meanwhile, is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia, and as a Legacy Edition release (once again) on the Nintendo Switch.