The news of the rift between EA Sports and FC comes just weeks after the release of EA's newest annual title, FC 25 Coins. The newest update to the annual football franchise featured a slew of changes to many areas of the game with a focus on minor updates to FC 25 's gameplay like the highly-touted Hypermotion Technology. A split between EA Sports and FC would mean that "EA Sports FC" would be EA Sports' first flagship title since 2022's EA Sports MMA to not feature the branding of a major sports league.

The EA Sports FC franchise has dominated the association football gaming market for years. While other franchises like Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer, recently renamed to eFootball, and Football Manager have carved out their own niche in the market, neither of them have come close to the widespread success of the FC franchise. With the FC 25 Ultimate Teamure of FC 's presence in the gaming industry up in the air, the rift between EA and FC should provide an opportunity for some of the lesser players to make their case as the organization's next developer.

Electronic Arts has had firm control over FC football brand for a very long time. The first FC game was released in 1993. titled FC International Soccer, and was published by EA Sports. In the over 25 years since, EA has kept the FC license locked down, and in the process has made the best-selling sports video game franchise of all time. All empires come to an end, however, and the FC franchise is facing a reckoning. A new statement from FC itself makes it clear that the exclusivity for EA is likely coming to an end.

In recent weeks, EA has made it publically known that its negotiations for continued exclusivity of the EA FC Coins for sale brand are not going well. FC reportedly asked for over $1 billion across four years for exclusive access to the FC brand, said to be more than twice the current $150 million-per-year deal. With EA and FC 's 10-year deal ending after 2022's World Cup in Qatar, a decision on the new deal needs to come soon, but if anything the two parties seem further apart than ever.