EA Sports FC

''EA Sports FC'' is a football video game franchise developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania and published by EA Sports. It serves as the direct successor to their former ''FIFA'' series, which was discontinued following the termination of EA and FIFA's licensing agreement, serving as a continuation of EA Sports' football simulation games.

The first main installment in the series, '' EA Sports FC 24'' was launched on 29 September 2023, following a one week early access period for Ultimate Edition users. In addition, ''FIFA Online 4'' was updated as '' EA Sports FC Online'' on 22 September 2023, while ''FIFA Mobile'' was updated to '' EA Sports FC Mobile'' globally on 26 September 2023. The second main installment in the series, '' EA Sports FC 25'' was launched on 27 September 2024, with the Ultimate Edition being released a week before on 20th September. The Ultimate Edition of the game comes with in game bonuses such as FC Points, Early Access, and Players.

History

On 10 May 2022, EA Sports and FIFA announced that their long-term licensing agreement would end upon its conclusion on 31 December 2022, following a one-year extension to allow for the release of '' FIFA 23''. It was announced on the same day that EA Sports' ''FIFA'' video game franchise would be rebranded under the name ''EA Sports FC'' in 2023.

Despite the rebranding, the franchise retained its licenses of more than 19,000 players, 700 teams, 100 stadiums and 30 leagues from ''FIFA 23''.

Games

Main installments

''EA Sports FC 24''

* Slogan: ''Welcome To The Club''
* Cover athlete: Erling Haaland (Standard and Ultimate Editions), Alexander Isak, Selma Bacha, Alexia Putellas, Virgil van Dijk, Son Heung-min, Trinity Rodman, Federico Chiesa, Enzo Fernández, Jude Bellingham, David Beckham, Vinícius Júnior, Sam Kerr, Leah Williamson, Marquinhos, Youssoufa Moukoko, Johan Cruyff, Alex Scott, Ronaldinho, Alexandra Popp, Juan Román Riquelme, Didier Drogba, Leicy Santos, Marta, Mia Hamm, Marcus Rashford, Rudi Völler, Pelé, Zinedine Zidane, Bukayo Saka and Andrea Pirlo (Ultimate Edition)
* Released for: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
* Release date: 29 September 2023

The inaugural main series game in the ''EA Sports FC series, EA Sports FC 24'' retains game modes and licensing to major clubs, leagues, players, and stadiums from ''FIFA 23''. New licenses include Spain's Liga F and Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, as well as officially licensing France Football's Ballon d'Or award. Cross-play is expanded to all game modes, including Clubs and VOLTA Football for the first time. The game allows players to transfer Ultimate Team progress from ''FIFA 23,'' including converting FIFA Points into FC Points. In addition, female players were added into Ultimate Team, allowing them to play alongside the men.

''EA Sports FC 25''

* Slogan: For The Club
* Cover athlete: Jude Bellingham (Standard and Ultimate Editions), Gianluigi Buffon, Aitana Bonmatí, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham (Ultimate Edition)
* Released for: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
* Release date: 27 September 2024

''EA Sports FC 26''

Other installments

''EA Sports FC Mobile''

* Cover Athlete: Vinícius Júnior (26 September 2023 – 2024), Erling Haaland (2024), Jude Bellingham (2025)
* Released for: iOS, Android
* Release date: 26 September 2023

In 2023, ''EA Sports FC Mobile'' succeeded the ''FIFA Mobile'' game series in the launch of ''EA Sports FC Mobile 24'' on September 26, 2023. Following the split between EA and FIFA, features included cross-regional play, power shots, new skills, the return of a global market, new Spectator Mode, and a new UEFA Champions League tournament mode. FC Mobile also included CONMEBOL Libertadores for the first time as a Live Event.

''EA Sports FC Online''

* Cover Athlete: Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Federico Chiesa, Enzo Fernandez, Virgil van Dijk, Son Heung-min (22 September 2023 - present)
* Released for: Windows
* Release date: 17 May 2018

On 22 September 2023, ''FIFA Online 4'' was renamed ''EA Sports FC Online,'' following the split between EA and FIFA. The game is an online free-to-play version of EA Sports FC for Asian market. The game allows players to play regular matches with 2v2 or 3v3 matches like the main series as well as the Ultimate Team feature seen in other games. The game allows the ability to buy players from a marketplace and help build their stats by purchasing items. FC Online have several game modes for the similar to the traditional FC games such as House Rules and VOLTA Live.

''EA Sports FC Tactical''

* Cover Athlete: Son Heung-min
* Released for: iOS, Android
* Release date: 22 May 2024 (in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia).

EA Sports FC Tactical is a turn-based football mobile game that developed by Klab Games and published by EA Sports. The gameplay of this game was very similar to ''Captain Tsubasa Dream Team.''

References

{{Portal bar, Video games, Association football, Women's association football
Association football video games
EA Sports games
Electronic Arts franchises
Esports games
Video game franchises introduced in 2016