It is the end of an E(R)A.
Electronic Arts (EA) have confirmed that a number of online game servers will shutdown forever as of November 6. The company is moving away from the FIFA franchise after their licensing agreement with the world football governing body came to an end, leading to a change in name.
In a statement on the official EA website at the time, Cam Weber, EVP, Group GM EA SPORTS & Racing, announced the monumental change:
“This new independent platform will bring fresh opportunity – to innovate, create and evolve. This is much more than just a change of symbol – as EA SPORTS, we’re committed to ensuring EA SPORTS FC is a symbol of change.
“We’re dedicated to meaningfully reinvesting in the sport, and we’re excited to work with a large and increasing number of partners to expand to new authentic experiences that bring joy, inclusivity and immersion to a global community of fans. I look forward to sharing more detail on these plans in the coming months.
“EA SPORTS FC will allow us to realise this future and much more…but not before we deliver our most expansive game ever with our current naming rights partner, FIFA, for one more year.
“We are committed to ensuring the next FIFA is our best ever, with more features, game modes, World Cup content, clubs, leagues, competitions, and players than any FIFA title before.”
In February, it was announced that the online servers for FIFA 16 and FIFA 17 would be turned off on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Playstation 4 and PC.
Since then, a number of other games will also have their servers turned off forever, including FIFA 18, FIFA 19, FIFA 20 and FIFA 21. Once shut down, players will no longer be able to access any online game modes but will still be able to play the likes of kick-off and career offline modes.
Meanwhile, EA Sports FC 24 is available on pretty much all consoles right now. You can check out our thoughts on that game right here.
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