EA Sports has announced a new licensing extension with UEFA, a new franchise sales milestone for the FIFA series, a launch date for FIFA 21 on Stadia, and the expansion of FIFA Online. Additionally, the company announced that it has a whopping six new FIFA games in development for mobile devices.
The New Deal
Starting with the new deal, EA and UEFA have agreed to a multiyear extension that will continue to give EA the rights to the Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Super Cup. The deal will also have an impact on the FIFA Global Series esports league, EA said.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, nor were any specifics around the timeframe of the deal.
The deal comes at a big moment for the FIFA franchise, as FIFA 21 was the best-selling game in the UK during 2020, EA said. Additionally, FIFA 21 has more players than FIFA 20–the previous record-holder–did at this point in its lifecycle. Additionally, EA revealed that the entire FIFA franchise has now shifted 325 million units sold.
FIFA Expansions
In regards to the other news, EA announced that FIFA 21 will release for Google Stadia on March 17. The service remains up and running despite Google recently shutting down its internal game developers. FIFA 21 will join Madden NFL 21 on Stadia, having launched there at the end of January.
What’s more, EA announced that the free-to-play FIFA Online 4 for PC will launch in Russia, Poland, and Turkey at some point in the future. EA said this opens up the franchise to “tens of millions” of potential players.
Six More Mobile Games
Finally, EA revealed that it has six new FIFA mobile games in the works for mobile devices. None of the games were announced, but EA said they will be “diverse mobile football experiences” that include authentic simulation titles and arcade-style games.
EA remarked that mobile is the “most popular gaming platform in the world,” and that’s why it is pushing so hard to bring more games to mobile devices. Indeed, a recent NPD study confirmed that mobile gaming is far more popular than console/PC in the US.
EA will have more news and updates to share later on Tuesday, February 2, as the mega-publisher is set to announce earnings and answer questions about its business as part of its latest earnings report. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more.
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