What’s going on? The FIFA series has been around since 1993, delivering fresh soccer experiences for gaming fans every year since.

An important unique selling point of the series has always been licenses. Players, clubs, stadiums – FIFA always had the most licenses and was thus able to outdo its competitors time and again.

At least with the “FIFA license” it could soon be over. Already a few months ago publisher EA confirmed that they are thinking about a name change and according to a leak the new name is already fixed: EA Sports Football Club.

FIFA wanted influence and money – And now probably develop themselves

Why does it come to the change? At the time, EA let it slip that the FIFA Association wanted to flatly double the price of the name license. From 500 million dollars to 1 billion dollars for 4 years.

And this is not about player or team licenses, but only about the fact that “FIFA” can be written on the game cover – and the World Cup.

In addition, the Football Association apparently wanted to exert more influence on the game, limiting, for example, the ways in which EA is allowed to monetize the soccer title. Keyword card packs.

EA was also not happy that the FIFA Association was looking at ways to take the license elsewhere after being the publisher that built the brand for so long.

What does the latest leak say? The leak comes from the podcast “GrubbSnax” by the regularly well-informed gaming journalist Jeff Grubb.

The industry insider has already been involved in leaks around Battlefield 2042 or had info on the possible Game Pass on PlayStation.

Grubb says EA no longer feels the license is necessary. The series is so well known and popular that gamers will return to the game even without the “FIFA” on the cover. It’s a purely financial decision, he says.

He also hints that the FIFA association may now be looking for partners to launch its own FIFA game. But there is nothing concrete about this.

Whether “EA Sports Football Club” or “EA Sports FC” – it would be a small revolution in the soccer series.

So far, the info is still scanty and it’s unclear what will happen with all the other licenses if FIFA Association actually launches its own game.

But there is apparently some movement in the world of digital soccer games. After the last FIFA competitor failed with the players, this is definitely good news.