The FIFA dream is seemingly over, with the internet having discovered that the company has gone ahead and scrubbed its back catalogue of FIFA titles from all major digital storefronts ahead of the wider launch of the inaugural, rebranded EA Sports FC 24 this Friday, September 29th.
All that’s left of the games when you search digital stores now are random downloadable bits and legacy “FIFA Points,” so the only hope for folks wanting to pick up an older EA football title are physical stores and EA Play – where FIFA 22 and last year’s FIFA 23 can apparently still be downloaded and played with a membership. Naturally, those who’ve previously purchased a digital FIFA game should still be able to re-download and play their titles.
EA's annual football game, now called EA FC, no longer sports the FIFA name in its title. All prior entries in the series have been delisted from all major storefronts.
Every FIFA title from 14 up to 23 can't be purchased anymore. FIFA 22 & 23 can still be played via EA Play. pic.twitter.com/VupU3Off44
— MauroNL (@MauroNL3) September 26, 2023
Even EA’s own official FIFA 23 website is yet to be updated, with plenty of links to “Buy Now” that direct users to since-removed pages.
FIFA 23’s Steam page doesn’t show up in searches of the store but does still exist, although it doesn’t allow users to buy the game and instead directs them to play via an EA Play subscription, accompanied by a note that reads, “At the request of the publisher, EA SPORTS FIFA 23 is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search.”
It might not come as much of a surprise to see these changes, given that this year’s EA football game marks the first launch since it ended its decades-long partnership with FIFA, but it’s certainly come without much (or any) warning or explanation.
We’ve been playing away at EA Sports FC 24 for review, and we’ve been mostly impressed with the gameplay and presentation changes we’ve seen so far, even if the rest feels a touch familiar. You can read our early thoughts here.
EA Sports FC 24 launches on Friday, September 29th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. You can pre-order the physical copy here. A digital Ultimate Edition is available to buy and play now on applicable platforms.
