FIFA 2K25 expected to release later this year

EA's long-term partnership with FIFA came to an end last year, with EA dropping the official FIFA branding for future football games. Moving forward, EA will be releasing EA Sports FC, leaving FIFA to find a new development partner. Many of us had expected EA's biggest rival in the sports games arena, 2K Games, to pick up the license and now, that deal has reportedly been made official. 

Moving forward, we should see FIFA 2K games, starting with FIFA 2K25 later this year. 2K Games has a long history with sports games, hitting major sports like basketball, golf and WWE. Now, 2K Games will be adding football to the list, according to mohplay Inc.

The situation here is a little complicated though. While EA no longer has the FIFA license, it does have all of the individual licenses to use real teams, kits and players in the game, so EA Sports FC still functions like the same FIFA games we've known for decades. EA has some of these licenses exclusively, so 2K may be in an awkward position where it has to resort to fake names, this in turn could have an impact on the game's commercial viability. FIFA always dominated PES in sales in part due to the game's accurate depiction of players and clubs.

I think it is also worth noting that while EA gets a lot of flack for its microtransactions, 2K Games is just as bad, if not worse in some cases. NBA 2K in particular has become increasingly expensive to play in recent years, with the developers slowing down progression and ‘VC' payouts, and making purchases more expensive. It is one of the most blatant examples of over-monetisation in the entire industry, practically forcing players to buy in, or face months of grinding to upgrade their created players in the career mode.

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KitGuru Says: None of this is confirmed officially yet, but FIFA did previously state that it has found a new development partner. Given 2K Games' vast resources and funds, it is one of the few companies that can afford to pay for the license, and also swiftly begin development. 

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