EA extends FIFA licence deal

By Tom Bramwell Published 27 April, 2006

Plus, brand new trailers.

EA's extended its all-encompassing licence deal with the football world's governing body FIFA.

The deal, announced today, means we can expect to be playing everything up to and including FIFA 2014 - or at the very least bemoaning them.

In an announcement on FIFA's site, the sport's governing body said the licence was an exclusive worldwide deal applying to interactive football player, manage and fantasy software games, and took in consoles, mobiles and basically anything else you can think of.

The deal's no surprise, mind you - EA's been making games with FIFA for more than a decade, and they've always been hugely successful. Even when, you know.

EA's latest FIFA title, 2006 FIFA World Cup, is due out on PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, PC, Nintendo DS, GBA and mobile formats this Friday, April 28th - with a PSP version to follow on May 19th.

On a related note, we've got some exclusive footage of the game over on Eurogamer TV, including bits dedicated to the stadiums and players.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (9) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • thesnowman #1 6 years ago

    really

  • Blerk #2 6 years ago

    Isn't Fifa 2014 out this year?

    Oh, you mean the year 2014! I see now.

  • dbeamish #3 6 years ago

    so all the years of average reviews and substandard haven't changed FIFAs mind then?

    Exclusive licenses should be banned. Opening it up will make it more competitive and produce a better variety.

  • MoFo #4 6 years ago

    "Opening it up will make it more competitive and produce a better variety."

    and give FIFA less cash in their pocket.

  • wolfen #5 6 years ago

    FIFA's license, other than brand recognition after 12 years, is pretty much rubbish, mind - the FIFPro and individual federation licenses are worth a lot more, IMHO. Except every four years, where the holder is entitled to an additional game.

  • gallow #6 6 years ago

    Its not really a shock but why? They should make the FIFA officials play a FIFA game and then PES5. That will fix them. You hear.

    So how does this effect other games now (Football Manager/the limited teams in PES) if its an exclusive license.

  • dsmx #7 6 years ago

    I wish FIFA instead of going after money would actualy do something in football to make it a better game, like doing something about diving.

  • coojam #8 6 years ago

    Working in a games shop, I see both sides of the debate. As I'm not particularly a football fan, I prefer Pro Evo, as gameplay-wise, its a better experience. A colleague who is a BIG football fan is convinced Pro Evo emulates the way real games work a lot better (ie. tactics, ball control etc.)

    However, after playing Fifa World Cup 06, I found the animation to be smooth, the controls to be much tighter and overall a better game that previous Fifas I have played. Saying that, I still found a loophole where I could hoof the ball right down the pitch, dodging the last line of defence, and scoring with a straight on shot at the goalie. That game ended 9-0.

    But I'd agree and say that, as a football supporter, Fifa is a better choice, as its a more "complete" game. Not that I know how that would feel, as I'm not a football supporter!

  • Eighthours #9 6 years ago

    FIFA's license, other than brand recognition after 12 years, is pretty much rubbish, mind

    Sales-wise, that's rubbish.