Game News The creators of GTA V behind the next FIFA football games?
FIFA and EA are over! The collaboration between the two entities will end and EA will therefore have to change the name of its successful license. But the big question is above all who will inherit the partnership with the football federation and therefore the name FIFA? Among all the hypotheses, a challenger seems more serious than the others: Take Two (GTA, Red Dead Redemption).
EA and Take Two: the eternal rivals
While the football simulation market has long been divided between Konami (PES) and EA (FIFA), the broader market for sports games has seen Take Two (2K) and EA compete for years. The two publishers have continued to outdo each other on various fronts, from ice hockey (NHL and NHL 2K) to basketball (NBA 2K and NBA Live), via tennis (Grand Slam Tennis and Top Spin ) or golf (PGA Tour 2K and EA Sports PGA Tour). And most of the time, it’s in favor of Take Two that the match ended.
But Take Two has never really invested in the field of football. Between PES and FIFA, it was actually complicated to find a place, even for a giant like Take Two. But as rumors began to intensify about a possible end to the contract between FIFA and EA, the CEO of the publisher of GTA and Read Dead Redemption seemed ready to seize the opportunity to grant himself a share of the cake. To put the comments in context, they followed the acquisition of Nordeus by Take Two, a studio working on the football management game Top Eleven Football Manager. And the least we can say is that dear Strauss Zelnick was quite enigmatic about the company’s future investments in the football game market:
We are delighted that Nordeus is part of the Take-Two family. They’re a hit, and Top Eleven is a great, popular game. I couldn’t be happier to be in the football management game business thanks to Top Eleven and the team at Nordeus. It’s a big step forward for us… We’ve never been in this sport before. And uh, I think I’ll leave it at that today.
A FIFA signed Take Two?
Here we are a few months later. The break between EA and FIFA has been officially announced. If the publisher has already confirmed to us that this decision will not have a profound impact on the license (except at the level of the name which will change for EA Sports FC), the International Federation of Football Association has, as for she, revealed that she was looking to develop a new partnership for the next FIFA games. Quite naturally, all eyes immediately turned to Take Two, which not only has the experience but also the means to afford FIFA rights.
Strauss Zelnick took advantage of Take Two’s financial results to speak on this subject:
We are really interested in expanding our opportunities in sport, and FIFA is a great brand and has incredible influence, but we have no current plans to communicate.
A half-hearted response, therefore, which does not invalidate or confirm anything, except that the two actors have not yet started any discussions. Nevertheless, by reaffirming its desire to extend its influence in the world of sports games, Take Two does not close the door to an arrangement. It remains to be seen what FIFA could offer him and whether the cost will be worth it. As a reminder, EA had estimated that the billion dollars requested by FIFA was too much for the little benefit it brought.
Either way, we should hear more about FIFA’s ambitions very soon. If a partnership were to emerge between Take Two (or another publisher) and FIFA, the first discussions should indeed begin quickly. To be able to hope to release a FIFA in 2024 (the year when EA’s license will become EA Sports FC), it is better not to delay too long.
