After Electronic Arts finally had enough with FIFA’s wild demands and walked away from a three-decade-old franchise that they built together, FIFA is busy trying to pretend it’s all good - when it’s not. FIFA is going through a rough patch right now as tries to prove that it can live without EA by launching a “range of new web 3.0 games ahead of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,” which is as tone-deaf of a statement as any can make in the video game industry. First up is a Roblox tie-in, followed by AI League: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Edition, which FIFA describes as a “4-on-4 casual football game, played between AI-controlled characters, with player input at fun and tactical moments.” The third one is FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in the Upland Metaverse, which lets its players “buy and sell virtual properties.” Finally, the fourth and fifth ones are Matchday Challenge: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Edition and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Phygtl, respectively. If we’re being honest, FIFA’s announcement all feels like a prank that it’s trying to sell as an actual thing. The sad part is that FIFA genuinely believes that the gaming industry will line up to support the endeavors. There’s plenty of reasons to believe why this will all flop. For one, FIFA doesn’t know what they’re doing. More importantly, the gaming industry is averse to NFTs and cryptocurrency, as a whole. We also can’t deny the fact that we’re no longer in early 2021 and late 2020. The entire world has a pretty negative view of NFTs right now and the cryptocurrency industry isn’t in the best shape. You can’t help but feel for EA Sports for suffering through what we can only presume is a toxic relationship for decades as it constantly dealt with a delusional company that genuinely believes that it can get away with stuff like this. We’re not saying that EA are saints as it previously referred to NFTs and cryptocurrency as the “future” of gaming only to change their mind a few months later. But, let’s just say that we’re thankful it won’t stop making soccer games under a new name anytime soon. As for FIFA, well, we wish you guys good luck finding a new developer for its football game after this entire fiasco.
