The developers of FC 25 have welcomed genuine competition in the soccer video game space amid rumors of a new FIFA game entering the market.
EA Sports ditched the FIFA license in 2022, launching its new FC series with FC 24 in 2023. But the FIFA series is set to return with a different developer and partner, with 2K heavily rumored to have taken on the license by partnering with football’s governing body, FIFA.
In May, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed a new FIFA game was in the works, saying: “We will develop a new e-game, because (the) football simulation game is called FIFA. For hundreds of millions of children around the world, when they play (a) football simulation game, they play FIFA. It cannot be named something else.
“We are developing with new partners a new game which obviously, as everything we do, will be the best. So get ready for the new FIFA e-game.”
2K, owned by Take-Two, already makes a number of successful annualized sports games including its NBA 2K series. FIFA then, may relaunch under this banner, titled FIFA 2K.
During an FC 25 reveal event at EA Sports’ Vancouver headquarters, IGN asked Karthik Venkateshan, Line Producer on the Ultimate Team mode, and Richard Walz, Game Design Director on Ultimate Team, if they’d welcome the challenge of a new FIFA game coming from a major AAA publisher.
"Yes,” Venkateshan replied. “As creatives, it's always so interesting to see how other people are approaching the same problem spaces that we're approaching, how they are interpreting football, how they want to solve the same things for other players. And I don't know, it energizes me as a football fan myself."
"I agree,” Walz added. “And as a player as well, I think it can only be a great thing for our players in our community. Yeah, that's great."
IGN also spoke with Lead Gameplay Producer Sam Rivera, who echoed his colleagues comments, insisting EA Sports has not succumbed to complacency despite a lack of competition in recent years.
"We welcome competition," he said. "I think it's good for everyone to see what other football simulation engines can do. Absolutely. What I can tell you is that creating a deep simulation experience like a football simulation experience, it takes a long time. It takes many, many years of polishing, balancing. We literally every year check in thousands of changes based on community feedback and improvements that we want to make to the game. All that just doesn't appear from scratch. You need to build it over the years. So what we have done over the last 15, 20 years for us, we're very happy with our game and we'll continue."
EA Sports has had its own way with football video games for years now, with Konami, once the market leader with its Pro Evolution Soccer series, struggling to compete with EA particularly when it comes to high-profile licenses. Konami went through its own rebrand, switching from PES to the eFootball series with disastrous results.
It would perhaps feel odd for the developers at EA Sports who worked on FIFA games for so long to be faced with having to compete with a new FIFA series from a different developer. But, as Walz suggested, competition will surely benefit the player. EA Sports is often accused of failing to justify the $70 cost of its new football video game each year, with some suggesting FC would be better off as a potentially free-to-play live service with paid expansions. Perhaps FIFA 2K25, or whatever it ends up being called, will serve not only to shake up the football video game market, but EA Sports itself.
While we wait to find out, check out IGN’s hands-on FC 25 preview, in which we reveal 71 changes made for this year’s game.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
