FIFA Should Go Back To Making Standalone World Cup Games

EA and FIFA had a unique opportunity this year with the World Cup happening midway through the domestic European season. Since the tournament is happening at the end of the calendar year, it is also happening shortly after the arrival of FIFA 23. Major international tournaments usually take place in the summer, by which point the build to the next FIFA has already begun. The opportunity presented to EA and FIFA by the shift of the World Cup was not taken. FIFA 23 received a World Cup update featuring the teams from the tournament and, best of all, a soundtrack compiled of the very best songs from throughout FIFA’s history. Helicopter, Red Morning Light, Song 2, they’re all on there. However, as with the World Cup itself, something just doesn’t feel quite right about the update.

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Much like when I attempt to play FIFA online nowadays and promptly get schooled, likely by someone far younger than me with a lot more time on their hands, this might be a case of me showing my age. Having an update allowing me to play World Cup games on FIFA alongside the World Cup itself has been great, but it doesn’t compare to an era during which FIFA would make standalone World Cup games to celebrate the quadrennial tournament.

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Again showing my age, my love of football was really kicked into gear by France ’98. David Beckham’s red card against Argentina, France sweeping Brazil aside in the final, and equally as responsible as the tournament itself was the video game that came with it. I spent a lot more time replaying, recreating, and rewriting that tournament on my PS1 than I ever did watching it. In a time before FIFA’s killer soundtracks, EA chose just one song to play as you perused France ’98’s menus, and they chose it well. Tubthumping by Chumbawumba.

via EA/FIFA

Four years later, the game that launched alongside the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea was also terrific. While the tournament was my favorite to watch, it was the World Cup game that came after that to this day was my favorite to play. The 2006 FIFA World Cup game was the first that let you play through the entire qualification process. One of my fondest FIFA memories to this day was when I and two friends took New Zealand all the way from the start of Oceanian qualifying to the quarter-finals of the World Cup. A journey that came to an end at four in the morning, so probably a blessing in disguise that we didn’t make the semis.

Two more standalone World Cup games came after that in 2010 and 2014, but for the last two tournaments, EA and FIFA have relied on DLC instead. Logistically that has made sense, but the landscape is about to change. EA is going it alone, leaving FIFA behind in 2023. FIFA’s president is adamant the footballing world’s governing body will continue to launch games in the future, but so far the only evidence of that has been instantly forgettable titles that utilize blockchain technology.

via FIFA

With the Qatar World Cup still ongoing at the time of typing this, FIFA has more than three years to figure out what it is going to do next when it comes to a World Cup game. Without EA making its football games, there won’t be a DLC option once the next tournament begins in North America in 2026. Now would be the best time to bring back the standalone World Cup game. A game they can make better than any that has come before it if the planning is done right.

The first and most important thing to do is finding a studio that can actually make the game. Easier said than done with EA out of the picture and Konami continuing to focus on eFootball for some reason. If FIFA can find someone to make a 2026 World Cup game for them, then it could be something pretty special. Include every national team and its players, if possible, and launch the game a full year before the World Cup begins. Not only will that keep it far enough away from the launch of the latest version of EA Sports FC, but it allows FIFA to build to the tournament for a full year through its game.

via EA

Once the tournament begins, roll out free DLC that updates the squads, adds the stadiums in which the actual World Cup games will be played if they haven’t already been included, and add a new World Cup mode in which players have to choose one of the 48 qualified teams. Yes, there will be 48 teams at the next World Cup. In defense of that decision, the twists and the upsets in Qatar might well back up the decision to expand the number of teams that make it into the tournament proper. It’ll also make sure Italy has something to do in four years time.

One of the biggest challenges developers of sports games face is getting a new title out at the same time every year. If FIFA returns to World Cup games for its future without EA, it can approach a developer with this idea minus the pressure of launching a game every single year. Task the studio with creating a polished football game, but they have two, maybe even three years to do it. With the right team on board, it could result in something pretty special. I, for one, am itching to take a minnow back to the big time, and maybe make it further than the quarter-finals on my next attempt. I’ll need to start earlier though as I don’t have gaming until 4 am in my locker anymore.

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