Support our independent tech coverage. Chrome Unboxed is written by real people, for real people—not search algorithms. Join Chrome Unboxed Plus for just $2 a month to get an ad-free experience, access to our private Discord, and more. Learn more about membership here.
START FREE TRIAL (MONTHLY)START FREE TRIAL (ANNUAL)
In a press release yesterday, Electronic Arts announced that they would finally be bringing FIFA to Google Stadia. While that’s something we already caught wind of a while back, we finally have a release date – March 17, 2021!
Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA)announced a multiyear UEFA license extension, ensuring the pinnacle of club football remains exclusive to EA SPORTS. EA is expanding football video game access through multiple in-development mobile offerings, and by broadening the PC free-to-download FIFA Online 4title’s reach to potentially 80 million players in more than 15 new countries. Additionally, the franchise will launch on Stadia for the first time when EA SPORTS FIFA 21is available March 17 for Stadia.
EA’s relationship with Stadia is very good at this point. They’ve already released Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Madden NFL 21 on the platform. “Soccer” fans will have lots of fun to look forward to when FIFA joins the crew. The game seeks to create the most authentic, social, and connected fútbol experience and to bring it to more devices, countries, and fans around the world, according to DJ Jackson, EA Sport’s Vice President.
Bringing FIFA to Stadia allows them to fulfill this vision by bringing it to “all of the devices you already own” – phrasing that the Stadia team has created for their marketing campaign and has been urging its partners to use across all of their promotional materials. Will you be buying FIFA 21 when it launches on Stadia on March 17th, or will you wait for FIFA 22 to come to Google’s platform? The next entry in the series releases in about six months, but it’s unlikely that it will release immediately on Stadia.
Major releases like this and large publishers investing in Stadia will continue to happen because, well, Stadia is not dead, contrary to what you keep hearing on social media. While the end of its first-party development studios does put a damper on Google’s public image, it has little to no bearing – at least not yet – on the service and its operation.
SUBSCRIBE TO UPSTREAM
Get Chrome Unboxed delivered straight to your inbox
Upstream is our flagship, curated newsletter with the top stories, most click-worthy deals, giveaways, and trending articles from Chrome Unboxed sent directly to your inbox a few times a week. Join 31,000+ subscribers.
