As of April 2023, Electronic Arts (EA) lost the branding and trademark rights for their juggernaut franchise FIFA. The final instalment of Fifa 23 marks the end of a significant era for sports simulation games and the speculation surrounding the new series ‘EAFC’ has mounted like a summer transfer window. So here are five things we know about EAFC.
1. FUT, Pro Clubs and Career Mode
For all intents and purposes, EA wants to make the transition from FIFA to EAFC as seamless as possible. Maintaining the vast player base will be paramount to them as, according to Early Game, “Fifa 23 alone generated earnings of roughly $7.4 billion”. Keeping the same core game features in EAFC that have attracted millions of participants to FIFA is one method we have confirmed.
FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) is the big earner for the franchise. Its popularity among famous streamers and its controversial micro-transaction system ‘FIFA Points’, have generated soaring revenues for a number of years. Coinciding with Career Mode and Pro Clubs guaranteeing sales for casual players alike, it is no surprise, according to the Lowdown, that these modes will be the fulcrum of the new franchise.
2. EAFC: Authenticity and Rights
Aside from swapping out ‘FUT’ for ‘EAUT’(?) there should be no cutbacks in the authenticity and rights on EA’s end. What this means is that EA has already secured the rights to use the likeness of just as many players, clubs and leagues as they did in the FIFA titles. Therefore, it should look and feel just as accurate as a simulation of the actual sport, as opposed to a corny recreation.
In addition to this, EAFC is looking to expand more on women’s football, with the inclusion of the Women’s Champions League and NSWL confirmed.
3. Hypermotion V
Moving away from the politics attached to this transitional phase, let us discuss more gameplay aspects.
Relating to the previous point about likeness, we know that EA will be implementing the ‘Hypermotion V’ technology. As stated by David Jackson of EA, it will consist of 80x the animations of FIFA 23 and 590 million frames of 11v11 game capture. As impressive as this sounds, the jury is still out on how this we’ll affect the experience of the average user.
4. Pro Clubs and Cross-Play
This one leans more on the side of rumour rather than fact but we thought it is worth a mention either way.
Pro Clubs is a popular social move that allows you to create a ‘Pro’ and play alongside your friends in a team. The mode however has not seen much innovation in recent releases with FUT being prioritised by EA, to the disappointment of its loyal users.
One new feature for EAFC that would be widely embraced by gamers is the ability to play cross-platform. According to FUTZone via Twitter, EAFC will support cross-play. Meaning PlayStation, Xbox and PC users alike can team up together for the first time in this franchise. Do take this point with a pinch of salt however it is not 100% confirmed at the time of writing.
5. FIFA will continue
A non-gameplay rumour to finish the list. Apparently, according to Games Radar, EAFC is not the be-all and end-all of football simulators. Interestingly, FIFA has announced that they will not be pulling their popular series from their catalogue, despite EA owning the rights to the likes of UT and most of the attractions to the game. FIFA president Gianni Infantino recently released this statement: “I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best available for gamers and football fans”.
It will be interesting to see how this all pans out moving forward. Could we see another duopoly of football games again like the FIFA vs. PES days? We will have to wait and see.
Final Words
Thank you for reading our article on the five things we know about EAFC. While much of it remains shrouded in mystery for now, one thing is for sure; football games will never be the same again.
If you enjoyed this article, please check out our review of FIFA 23 to compare and contrast.
