EA Sports FC 24 continues the FIFA series without using the established name. Nevertheless, the game seems to be achieving high player numbers, the developer explains.
This is what EA says about player numbers in FC 24: In a press release, EA Sports has drawn an initial balance since the release of EA FC 24.
According to the developer, 11.3 million players jumped into EA FC 24 in the first week. In comparison: Last year, EA Sports reported 10.3 million players in the first week of FIFA 23, stating that this was the previous record. This would be broken with this year’s number.
Cam Weber, President of EA Sports, stated that they are pleased with the launch: “We welcome not only millions of our long-time players back, but the number of new players in FC 24 has increased by nearly 20% compared to last year” (via ea.com).
What to note: In the case of EA FC 24, it is noticeable that EA specifically mentions in the announcement that the 11.3 million players also include EA Play, while this was not the case in the announcement for FIFA 23 (via ea.com).
However, through the regular EA Play you only get a trial access to EA FC 24, currently only EA Play Pro provides the full game. We have requested further information on this.
EA FC 24 instead of FIFA – Why the name change?
The new numbers are particularly interesting as EA Sports FC represented a turning point for EA. After many years in which the name “FIFA” became established among fans of the football series, EA Sports said goodbye to the familiar title.
While the game is still very close to what is known from the FIFA series, it was uncertain how the name change would affect the player numbers of the new game. According to the new numbers from EA, however, it seems that at least the release period has not suffered from the change.
Why is the game now called EA FC 24? EA Sports already explained in May 2022 that the “next FIFA” after FIFA 23 would no longer be called “FIFA”.
This was preceded by the end of the partnership with FIFA, the football world association. This had been hinted at as early as 2021, when first reports about a high price for the FIFA name circulated.
By 2023 it was finally time and EA FC 24 was released without the familiar FIFA name, but still with player licenses, stadiums, leagues, and similar content known from the past.
