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According to the latest reports, 2K Sports is reportedly in talks with global football's governing body FIFA to buy the official FIFA license. This follows reports that the global giants have failed to negotiate terms with current holders of the license, EA Sports, who have been long-term developers for the gaming franchise.
Currently, 2K sports owns the NBA 2K series, PGA Tour 2K, and WWE 2K. However, the potential coup will be a huge one for the company considering the series’ brand value around the world. FIFA was initially reported to be in talks with EA Sports to renew the current license, which is coming to an end in 2022.
Hence, FIFA 23 will be the last game that EA Sports produces if in truth the new deal with 2K Sports goes through.
2K Sports in talks with FIFA license after 2022
The current FIFA license comes to an end in 2022, with EA Sports having been in negotiations with FIFA for a number of months. However, the governing body has reportedly asked for a fee of around $1 billion every four years, which translates to $250 million yearly. These terms were reportedly rejected by EA Sports.
The FUTZone Twitter account has now claimed that 2K Sports has entered talks with FIFA to buy the license instead, and are reportedly willing to pay the sum involved as well. While the news has not yet been confirmed by any official source, 2K chief Strauss Zelnick was recently asked about rumors surrounding the company’s negotiations with FIFA. He said the following:
"That’s a big step forward for us, we haven’t been in that sport before. And erm, I think I’ll leave it at that today."
Hence, Zelnick effectively confirmed the reports that the company is considering increasing its presence in the global video-games market by buying the license. Of course, the FIFA series has proved to be the highest-grossing sports video game series in recent years.
EA has already earned more than $1.6 billion worldwide. While the prospective deal with NBA 2K does not mean the end of EA Sports’ FIFA series, it will mean that the game will not have any official names or player likeliness that the FIFA license currently grants them.
Rumors have also suggested that a potential deal would be beneficial for women’s football. NBA 2K22 also has a women’s anniversary version and updated rosters from the WNBA. FIFA has until now been reluctant to include women stars, something that 2K Sports has a track record of.
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