FIFA is a series of association football simulation video games developed and released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. Football video games such as Sensible Soccer, Kick Off and Match Day had been developed since the late 1980s and already competitive in the games market when EA Sports announced a football game as the next addition to their EA Sports label. The Guardian called the series "the slickest, most polished and by far the most popular football game around". As of 2011, the FIFA franchise has been localised into 18 languages and available in 51 countries. Listed in Guinness World Records as the best-selling sports video game franchise in the world, by 2019, the FIFA series had sold over 282.4 million copies. It is also one of the best-selling video game franchises.
When the series began in late 1993, it was notable for being the first to have an official licence from FIFA, the world governing body of football. The latest installments in the series contain many exclusively licensed leagues including leagues and teams from around the world, including the German Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, English Premier League and EFL Championship, Italian Serie A and Serie B, Spanish La Liga and La Liga 2, French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, Portuguese Primeira Liga, Turkish Süper Lig, Dutch Eredivisie, Scottish Premiership, the Swiss Super League, Russian Premier League, Polish Ekstraklasa, Mexican Liga MX, American Major League Soccer, South Korean K-League, Japanese J1 League, the Chinese Super League, Saudi Professional League, Australian A-League, Chilean Primera División, Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and Argentine Superliga Argentina, allowing the use of real leagues, clubs and player names and likenesses within the games. Popular clubs from around the world, including some teams from Greece, Ukraine and South Africa, are also included, without those nations' entire leagues. The main series has been complemented by additional installments based on single major tournaments, such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA European Football Championship, as well as a series of football management titles.
As of FIFA 20, Real Madrid playmaker Eden Hazard is the face of the franchise, appearing on the front cover of the series and in promotional campaigns and advertisements. He takes over from Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus who was the face of the previous two covers. Lionel Messi appeared on four straight covers from FIFA 13 to FIFA 16. Wayne Rooney has appeared in the most covers being on the cover of every game from FIFA 06 to FIFA 12. Since the release of FIFA Mobile in 2016, forward Marco Reus, Eden Hazard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Paulo Dybala have appeared on the cover.
FIFA 12 holds the record for the "fastest selling sports game ever" with over 3.2 million games sold and over $186 million generated at retail in its first week of release. The franchise's latest release, FIFA 20, has been released worldwide on September 27, 2019. It is available for multiple gaming systems, including the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and the Stadia platform.
History[]
Main series[]
- FIFA International Soccer
- FIFA 95
- FIFA 96
- FIFA 97
- FIFA Road to World Cup 98
- FIFA 99
- FIFA 2000
- FIFA 2001
- FIFA 2002
- FIFA 2003
- FIFA 2004
- FIFA 2005
- FIFA 06
- FIFA 07
- FIFA 08
- FIFA 09
- FIFA 10
- FIFA 11
- FIFA 12
- FIFA 13
- FIFA 14
- FIFA 15
- FIFA 16
- FIFA 17
- FIFA 18
- FIFA 19
- FIFA 20
- FIFA 21
- FIFA 22
- FIFA 23
- EA Sports FC 24
- EA Sports FC 25 (TBA)
FIFA World Cup licensed series[]
- FIFA Road to World Cup 98
- 2002 FIFA World Cup
- 2006 FIFA World Cup
- 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
- 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
UEFA Champions League licensed games[]
- UEFA Champions League 2004–2005
- UEFA Champions League 2006–2007
- UEFA Champions League Edition
UEFA European Championship licensed series[]
FIFA Street football series[]
Other titles[]
- FIFA Online
- FIFA Online 2
- FIFA Online 3
- FIFA Online 4