EA Stakes Claim to Football Gaming Crown

Electronic Arts is leaving no doubt about who has the crown when it comes to football games, sending EA Sports FC 24 to the PS Plus Essential market before any successor or rival has been announced.

Although it has not yet been announced, there is no doubt that an EA Sports FC 25 will be released this autumn, most likely in late September or early October. And it is nearly safe that it will be the bestseller of the year in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other counties. But even if the football games from Electronic Arts are sure-fire bestsellers, the publisher is clearly leaving nothing to chance this year.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced the games that will be available for free to PS Plus Essential subscribers in May, including Ghostrunner 2, Tunic and Destiny: Lightfall, as well as EA Sports FC 24.

At first glance, it seems surprising that the title is being offered as a free game to PS Plus subscribers after less than a year on the market. On the other hand, it's not the first time this has happened. Back in May 2022, EA sent the then FIFA 22 to PS Plus for marketing, probably as a sign to its former name partner FIFA. After all, everyone had heard about the dispute between the two at the end of 2021, which ultimately ended their collaboration after more than two very successful decades. At the time, it was unclear whether and how quickly FIFA would be able to find a new publisher to partner with.

The latest status on this issue is that FIFA will indeed announce a partner this year and - as a logical consequence - a "FIFA 25" will be released, but not from EA.

No competitor has been announced yet, and even if EA itself has not yet announced EA Sports FC 25, with the current marketing campaign EA is making sure that every PlayStation owner who is interested in football knows and has tried out the new EA Sports FC game brand. This leaves even less room for potential competitors to develop in this lucrative but narrow market environment. Closing off space is a tactic that doesn't just work on the football pitch.