Moore: videogames "built" FIFA brand

EA Sports boss Peter Moore has said videogames are responsible for making FIFA a globally recognised brand.

"As a huge soccer fan, going back almost since I was born, the FIFA brand was never used. Then when EA Sports started building the brand, it's only then that FIFA made it the FIFA World Cup," Peter Moore told GamesIndustry.biz.

"So what we've done is to help popularise FIFA, the world's biggest sports organisation - on a par with the International Olympics Committee I guess - it's actually the videogame that's built that brand."

Peter Moore went on to talk about the rigorous yearly update cycle and how difficult it was to innovate with each instalment due to time constraints.

"You've got to do something every year, and not just one thing, but as technology makes itself available," added Moore. "Nobody else in this industry does what EA Sports does, which is to deliver those franchises every twelve months."

"You pick maybe 60 or 70 things and work out what technology has now allowed, what bandwidth has now allowed - you saw it last year with FIFA and 'Be a Pro' mode and how that changed the way that people look at playing the game."

Peter Moore has recently spoken out about the difficulty level of previous EA Sports games. He feels that approachability is a key concept for the future.

FIFA 09 is on schedule to launch in September, as it always does, and has customisable tactics as well as Be A Pro online bells and whistles at the forefront of its attack.

Head over to out hands-on impressions of FIFA 09 to see how the much improved football series is shaping up.

Or pop over to our FIFA 09 E3 gallery for some actual gameplay screenshots would you believe.