It’s a big year for soccer heads — the World Cup begins in this month, and EA’s giving them the scoop on FIFA 19 today at its fan event ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show in Los Angeles.
And executive producer Aaron McHardy said it’s getting UEFA Champions League mode, too — something that its competitor, Pro Evolution Soccer from Konami, lost. FIFA 19 launches in September.
EA also announced that it just pushed an update for FIFA 18 with World Cup content. The company also said it’s doing a free trial for the soccer game with the World Cup update for consoles and PC.
FIFA is one of the best-selling games of 2017 (and nowadays every year, given the global popularity of the sport and the growth of consoles in the former Eastern Bloc and Latin America). It’s crucial to EA’s bottom line as well, as analyst Mat Piscatella of The NPD Group notes.
US NPD @ #E32018 – Electronic Arts was the second best-selling publisher of 2017 in US full game dollar sales, with 4 games among the year's top 20 best-selling titles: Madden NFL 18 (#4), Star Wars: Battlefront II (#8), FIFA 18 (#12) and Mass Effect: Andromeda (#16).
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) June 9, 2018
EA also has a huge following, with the publisher claiming that 20 million people participated in its competitive gaming scene this past season (EA lumps both pros, amateurs, and everyday Joes into one “competitive gamer” bucket). Its lives services, such as the sales of packs for its Ultimate Team mode (think video game fantasy sports), add millions to EA’s bottom line as well.
