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[Lunatic_Gamer]

As it is already known, Konami decided to switch to the free-to-play model for the PES series and at the same time to use a new name called eFootball. According to a supposed insider now, EA Sports and Electronic Arts are planning a similar move by making the next installment of Fifa 23 free-to-play.

It seems that Electronic Arts thinks that’s a brilliant idea from its major competitor. The well-known FIFA leaker and insider Donk, who has regularly been right with rumors and leaks on the Football franchise, reports via Twitter that FIFA 23 will also be a free-to-play game.

In addition, the future title will also have crossplay, so that players on all platforms can play together. This is striking news, because FIFA 22 does not have crossplay, yet.

FIFA 23 Will Be Free-To-Play, According To A FIFA Leaker

EA Sports and Electronic Arts are planning to make the next installment of Fifa 23 free-to-play with crossplay support, as per FIFA leaker.

technclub.com

Huge if true. Kinda scary the direction the Games Industry seems to be heading towards to...

 

[Derktron]

Seems like they want to make it into a service and compete with PES F2P.

 

[reksveks]

Has the cross play situation for fifa 22 been clarified?

 

[nowhat]

Seems like they want to make it into a service

If by "a service" you mean "EA only cares about selling FUT packs", then sure - but it's not like it would be a major change. I don't think EA cares about unit sales that much even now (although obviously they'll want to milk it out as long as they can, because EA).

 

[6502]

This would be insanely stupid.

You don't slaughter your cash cows.

I expect a limited freeplay demo at best.

If I am wrong I will play fifa 64 instead of iss the rest of the year.

 

[GHG]

This would be insanely stupid.

You don't slaughter your cash cows.

I expect a limited freeplay demo at best.

If I am wrong I will play fifa 64 instead of iss the rest of the year.

The cash cow isn't the sale of the game itself...

 

[Shmunter]

The inevitable end game for all games

 

[6502]

The cash cow isn't the sale of the game itself...

Surely selling the same game to the same people for £40 each year has to be a money earner?

 

[SoggyBiscuit]

I just can't see EA pivoting that quickly to a F2P model. Sure, the money is in FUT, but sacrificing the £60 entry fee alongside that FUT money seems like boneheaded business to me. Basically throwing money away in the hope that more will be spent down the line.

 

[HarryKS]

They don't need to. But they can make FUT f2p, which it already is an ersatz of. They'll just remove the pay gate for access.

 

[SlimySnake]

The cash cow isn't the sale of the game itself...

They get a billion from microtransactions but they also sell 20-30 million copies a year at $60 a pop. That's almost $2 billion in revenue from initial sales alone.

 

[justiceiro]

This would be insanely stupid.

You don't slaughter your cash cows.

I expect a limited freeplay demo at best.

If I am wrong I will play fifa 64 instead of iss the rest of the year.

We will only know about it next year, though.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

"How can we make a trash game even more trash?"

 

[6502]

We will only know about it next year, though.

I am confident enough to carry that bet until we know. So 1 year of fifa 64 if fifa 23 is ftp. I will even play as Wales in all matches.

 

[Blond]

These yearly releases are perfect for the Gaas Model, you just don’t realize it yet.

 

[6502]

Maybe but it's a huge thing to disrupt a market you already hold top spot in. It doesn't sound like EA to me.

I may be totally out of touch but I just don't see suits in the boardroom approving this.

 

[NeonDelta]

Probably just be a FUT only version of the game.

 

[xrnzaaas]

This would be insanely stupid.

You don't slaughter your cash cows.

I expect a limited freeplay demo at best.

If I am wrong I will play fifa 64 instead of iss the rest of the year.

Selling copies of the game isn't their cash cow, FUT is and making it 'free' can be a good move for them to make even more money.

 

[GHG]

Surely selling the same game to the same people for £40 each year has to be a money earner?

They get a billion from microtransactions but they also sell 20-30 million copies a year at $60 a pop. That's almost $2 billion in revenue from initial sales alone.

Just 26% Of EA's Revenue Now Comes From Game Sales

EA's report for the last financial year has revealed game sales only made up a little more than a quarter of its total revenue.

www.thegamer.com

And

29% of EA's 2020 Revenue Came From Ultimate Team Microtransactions

According to financial reports, FIFA made up a "substantial portion" of Ultimate Team's total 2020 revenue, making it EA's most popular service.

www.cbr.com

 

[GymWolf]

Great move, they are gonna swim in money

 

[TrebleShot]

Well there it is, the slow descent into absolutely no gameplay and a card collecting, x30 versions of Messi at £2 a pop.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

I don’t care. I am sticking with FIFA’17.

 

[MrS]

Will believe it when I see it. PES needed to do it because it can't compete. FIFA prints money.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

FIFA sells what? 20 million copies? At a ballpark net sales of maybe $40 (after all cuts and bargain binning), thats maybe $800M of sales they will lose.

Making it F2P getting more users will be able to reap in enough to counter the loss of copies?

Or maybe they'll jack up mtx prices too.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

This would be insanely stupid.

You don't slaughter your cash cows.

I expect a limited freeplay demo at best.

If I am wrong I will play fifa 64 instead of iss the rest of the year.

COD Cold War made 300 million!!! in just 3 months of release thanks to optional microtransactions. Dont worry, theres way more cash out there.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

COD Cold War made 300 million!!! in just 3 months of release thanks to optional microtransactions. Dont worry, theres way more cash out there.

Maybe they'll what COD does. One mode F2P, main game and MP modes pay the normal price.

 

[chonga]

They get a billion from microtransactions but they also sell 20-30 million copies a year at $60 a pop. That's almost $2 billion in revenue from initial sales alone.

The gamble is this: does making it F2P gain them enough users, who don't want to spend $60-70 upfront on a game, but may be willing to spend small amounts on MTX, collectively go on to spend money on MTX that exceeds the shortfall in upfront sales.

COD sticking with Warzone beyond MW is probably a clear indication that the model may well work for FIFA.

 

[SirKicksalot]

FIFA World bombed horribly, but 7-8 years of experience in this GaaS business will benefit this new attempt.

Off the top of my head, World's problems were:
- running on 2+ years old engine with only a couple of recent features (FIFA 12 + features and animations from newer titles)
- a mobile-style energy system that restricted play
- poor carrot-on-a-stick mechanics compared to the main game (fewer cosmetics etc). It was all about chasing FUT, which is great but it was missing that extra something that might nudge your interest a bit
- very spartan presentation compared to the main game, it did not feel inviting at all. I think it had the same leagues, teams and players as the main game but the presentation was so bad it never felt as fun to pick up and play as FIFA 2012. It simply lacked the fun factor
- bad servers, but it never made it out of beta anyway

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Why the fuck would they make an easy 20 million seller F2P? Makes zero sense.

 

[Physiocrat]

RIP Video Games

 

[Banjo64]

Surely selling the same game to the same people for £40 each year has to be a money earner?

Giving it away to twice as many people and chasing those FUT vbucks.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

Why the fuck would they make an easy 20 million seller F2P? Makes zero sense.

 

[KAL2006]

They will lost alot of money. I know so many people who buy FIFA every single year who don't spend a penny on microtransactions. If they just get it for free I don't think they will still buy any microtransactions, unless they take microtransactions to a whole new level where the game is unplayable without it such as play as Man Utd (£5).

 

[DaleinCalgary]

They will lost alot of money. I know so many people who buy FIFA every single year who don't spend a penny on microtransactions. If they just get it for free I don't think they will still buy any microtransactions, unless they take microtransactions to a whole new level where the game is unplayable without it such as play as Man Utd (£5).

But you may have to spend $1 on a ball to play each game.

 

[dDoc]

I am certain of one thing only - EA will do what brings them the most profit.

 

[whyman]

Over a year out. Even if this is the idea now, things can change.

 

[TheGodfather07]

i doubt the whole thing is going free to play. they will probably have some watered down free to play version of fifa though. fifa sells millions of copies at launch at full price. they aint going to throw that away.

 

[kingfey]

I just need better crossplay.

The fut market transfer is kinda meh. I managed to make 50k coins easily, but player wise its very small. There is only 600k transfer on xbox one s. cant farm more coins, and i have to fight same players, to buy players.

For now, I am doing campaign gameplay. I am using southampton to hit the top premier league. Psg, and Arsenal wont let me play with them, if i do poorly for 1 match. They put me on the bench for too many matches.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

FIFA 23 Will Be Free-To-Play, According To A FIFA Leaker

EA Sports and Electronic Arts are planning to make the next installment of Fifa 23 free-to-play with crossplay support, as per FIFA leaker.

technclub.com

Huge if true. Kinda scary the direction the Games Industry seems to be headed towards to...

Yeah streaming/subscription models will become irrelevant if this continues. Old school (buying your games) will always survive when met with quality.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Why the fuck would they make an easy 20 million seller F2P? Makes zero sense.

Because F2P mobile phones make a BILLION in one year, something like Sony Music game Fate/Grand Order that made in one year over one billion and probably passed 5 billion mark right now. More market penetration = more MTX = more money.

 

[Kokoloko85]

They will still make billions.
And I recently played 21 and the game has barely changed in 10 years. Probably the most laziest developers in the industry. Same crappy animations, commentating is horrible and its just plain bad. They could actually spend there money and improve the game so much

 

[iHaunter]

It may as fucking well be. This game has egregious MACRO Transactions. The box cost is costing EA more money at this point. Game is a POS and so are the people that buy it and give these morons money.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Great move, they are gonna swim in money

As great as capitalism is, and EA are great at it, it would be even better if they used that money make a better game..

But thats the shit thing with capitalism, it never gets put back in.

 

[GymWolf]

As great as capitalism is, and EA are great at it, it would be even better if they used that money make a better game..

But thats the shit thing with capitalism, it never gets put back in.

Your mistake was thinking that i put much thoughts in that line beside going well in combo with cr7 swimming on the field...

 

[Miles708]

This would be insanely stupid.

You don't slaughter your cash cows.

I expect a limited freeplay demo at best.

If I am wrong I will play fifa 64 instead of iss the rest of the year.

If we consider that FUT transactions are the bulk of income (I'm speculating here, but i think it's very reasonable to assume so), the actual "sealed copy" becomes an hindrance, a barrier of entry that keeps out potential whales and a whole ocean of small spenders.

By getting it off, you take a calculated loss for a potential monstrous return. It's an awful, terrible, horrendous tactic, so it'll obviously work wonderfully and people will even thank them for the service.

It's crap but, as long as you don't care about quality, it makes A LOT of sense.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Your mistake was thinking that i put much thoughts in that line beside going well in combo with cr7 swimming on the field...

I was thinking that as thats what I normally do!

 

[synchronicity]

Or maybe they'll jack up mtx prices too.

Yeah, even a moderate increase in mtx prices along with an expanded user base will likely make the difference.

It's funny because this kind of reminds me of Madden vs. NFL 2K5. NFL 2K5 went for $19.99 and was the better game (*still* the better game), and EA countered with, "Oh yeah. Good luck without an NFL license." (I know the NFL was a part of the exclusivity.)

Now with PES being free, they can't take away licenses from a product without them, so they're like, "Yeah, we can do free too." LOL

* If new PES (e-football, whatever, gah) doesn't include substantial ML, I'll just stick with my old versions of PES. Plenty of fun to be had. Just update rosters on my own.

 

[packy34]

Surely selling the same game to the same people for £40 each year has to be a money earner?

They can get way more people in the door and on track to spend on FUT if the game is free.

 

[Dick Jones]

Has the cross play situation for fifa 22 been clarified?

The real question is it cross play with FIFA 20 & 21 since its basically the same code?

 

[kyliethicc]

They'll probably just make 2 versions.

"FIFA 23 FUT only" is free to play, and "FIFA 23 full game" is still $70.