EA and the Federation Internationale de Football Association had a long history of best-selling soccer games until their split in 2022 led the series to be rebranded as EA Sports FC. Now, FIFA has announced a partnership with blockchain company Mythical Games to produce a new mobile game called FIFA Rivals. While the game doesn’t have a trailer yet, there is a teaser for FIFA Rivals, which heralds its arrival in Summer 2025.
FIFA Rivals will allow players to compete in head-to-head matchups with arcade-style gameplay. The game will be free-to-play, but Mythos is also including in-game transactions through its blockchain to encourage fans to “enhance their lineups” while buying, selling, and trading for professional players. Mythos also stated that the game will include “officially licensed [soccer] stars” from international clubs.
Earlier this fall, FIFA struck a separate deal with Konami for two different FIFAe World Cup tournaments. That contract was strictly an esports agreement that will utilize Konami’s eFootball for mobile and console competition featuring players from all over the world.
Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer was once the primary competitor to EA and FIFA’s soccer franchise. However, FIFA and Konami didn’t strike an agreement to rebrand eFootball or release a new console game with the FIFA name. Since EA is out of the picture, Konami and 2K are the two most likely choices for FIFA to partner with on consoles. That’s assuming that FIFA wants to return to console gaming. As for EA, the publisher has drawn comparable sales to the older FIFA games with its new EA Sports FC series.