Rumors have been circulating for a while about EA's dissatisfaction with the FIFA license agreement and the willingness of the American giant to abandon the brand in order to have more creative freedom with its football simulator, and it seems that it will go just like that.

The well-known journalist Jeff Grubb has in fact revealed that not only has EA decided to definitively abandon the FIFA license, but has already defined the title of the new game coming out this year, which will be called EA Sports FC (we imagine followed by a "23" as per tradition). This obviously won't prevent the game from having the official licenses of clubs, stadiums, leagues and events (FIFPRO, UEFA, Serie A and La Liga just to name a few), but it simply won't be able to take advantage of the FIFA logo anymore. The only significant impact this will bring will likely be the absence of the FIFA World Cup in the title.

The news does not come totally by surprise: in a message to players last October, in fact, the General Manager of EA Sports Cam Weber had written:

"And as we look to the future, we are also considering changing the name of our international EA SPORTS football games. This means that we are reviewing our name rights agreement with FIFA, which is divided from all other official partnerships and licenses around the world of football.

The future of football is very vast and bright. Our priority is to make sure we have every opportunity to continue to deliver the world's greatest interactive football experience. Thank you again for the support and feedback you provided us on this year's game. We look forward to creating the future of football with you."

But that's not all: Grubb always reveals that this will not be the death of FIFA football titles, since, after the abandonment of EA, the federation is willing to produce its own FIFA-branded football title . Needless to say, this could prove to be a far from easy task, as Konami's problems with the Pro Evolution Soccer eFootball series have recently shown.

For now, however, these are rumors not officially confirmed: continue to follow us for any confirmations or denials!