EA just pulled all FIFA games offline with zero warning

The FIFA series from Electronic Arts is one of the video game industry’s most commercially successful franchises in history since its inception all the way back in 1993.

Over the years, the FIFA series has evolved massively as it closely resembles its real-life counterpart with life-like footballers, officially licensed tournaments and much more. However, it’s also evolved into one of the most monetised products in the industry with its FIFA Ultimate Team mode, a fantasy football league of sorts in which gamers can assemble a dream team, mostly at an additional financial cost.

Check out the EA Sports FC 24 trailer below!

Back in May 2022, due to a licensing disagreement with FIFA, the football governing body of the world, Electronic Arts announced that it was dropping the FIFA name from its game and would instead move forward as EA Sports FC. To be honest, it's going to take some getting used to and we’re pretty sure that gamers will continue to call it “FIFA” for the foreseeable future, at least.

Its first release under the new name, EA Sports FC 24 arrives this week on PC and modern consoles and EA is showing that it’s moved on from its old name by pulling all previous FIFA games from digital stores including those associated with PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo. I suppose this is kind of like throwing the ex’s clothes out of the window and onto the street.

I’ve checked for myself, and yes, it’s not possible to buy previous FIFA games from any of the official digital storefronts. For example, if you search for FIFA 23 on a dedicated storefront, it will not appear to purchase. It is still possible to download various commentary languages and of course, the FIFA Points currency used in FUT. Thankfully, if you already own a FIFA game, you can still download and play it anytime you wish.

EA Sports FC 24 releases tomorrow 29 September for PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.