EA Sports FC 24 is performing better than FIFA – but that shouldn’t really be a surprise

As it turns out, EA’s decision to ditch the FIFA license for its games about kicking a round thing around a patch of green stuff doesn’t look to have affected the series’ momentum, with EA Sports FC 24 having seen 11.3 million players take to the pitch during its first week post-release.

The publisher naturally referred to that number in a very grounded and humble manner as part of a recent press release about it, with president Cam Weber declaring: “We are building the world’s biggest football community through EA Sports FC, and we’re just getting started.”

Though the player count being highlighted by the publisher is larger than the 10.3 million amassed by FIFA 23 during its debut week, as pointed out by Eurogamer, EA Sports FC 24’s figure includes those who’ve dipped into the game via EA Play.

Another thing to note before making the decision to change your own first name to EA Sports, aside from the face that might land you in some legal hot water, is that the year-on-year increase between EA Sports FC 24 and FIFA 23’s opening weeks is very similar to the jump seen between FIFA 23 and FIFA 22 on debut.

The latter’s launch period saw 9.1 million players jump into the game, which EA described as “record-breaking”, the exact same phrase it’d use in its press release about the former a year or so later.

Going back a bit further, the publisher reported FIFA 21’s opening day as having amassed a total of around 3.6 million players, which is more difficult to compare to these other numbers, but could easily fit in with the idea that the series has been gradually trending upwards for a little while now.

So, while it’s interesting that the name change to EA Sports FC hasn’t halted that lovely corporate growth train, it also doesn’t look to have caused a sudden change in fortunes.

If you fancy reading more about EA Sports FC 24, you might be interested in the debate that’s been raging among players about Eden Hazard’s FUT future following his real world retirement.