In a fascinating revelation, it has come to light that FIFA, the iconic football video game series, could have found its home with PlayStation in the 1990s, had Sony not turned down the rights. This interesting twist of fate could have changed the gaming landscape considerably.
In an interview with Time Extension, Tom Stone, the former vice president of European marketing at Electronic Arts (EA), shared a captivating story. Stone revealed that prior to the renewal of the FIFA license in 1997, he had a meeting with Chris Deering, who was serving as the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe at the time. What transpired in that meeting left Stone astounded.
Deering informed Stone that Sony had been offered the rights to FIFA by ISL, the entity responsible for FIFA licensing at the time. Stone was taken aback by this revelation, as the deal had apparently been offered without EA’s knowledge. He expressed his frustration, stating, “Chris Deering met with me and said, ‘We’ve been offered the rights to FIFA Soccer.’ I said, ‘You have got to be effing joking. Seriously? ISL has approached you and asked if you would like an exclusive worldwide license for FIFA? After everything we’ve done for them?’”
However, Deering made a surprising decision. He told Stone that he wouldn’t agree to the offer, stating, “I will not sign that deal unless you can’t come to terms with FIFA. That’s your deal. You created that.”
Stone speculated that Deering’s decision was likely influenced by the extensive support EA had provided to PlayStation. It was a strategic move that changed the course of gaming history.
Decades later, it remains uncertain how the gaming landscape would have evolved if Sony had embraced the FIFA licensing deal. In the same interview, Stone expressed his belief that “EA would have responded quite badly” had PlayStation accepted the offer.
The most recent addition to EA Sports’ soccer game series, EA Sports FC 24, was released at the end of last month on various platforms, including Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. This release marked the studio’s first soccer game since its departure from the FIFA brand, introducing an exciting new chapter in the world of virtual soccer gaming.
