Electronic Arts (EA) has today announced a reimagined FIFA 23 esports program including a brand new EA Sports Cup.
In this, players representing some of the world’s top esports organisations and professional football clubs will compete in 2v2 competition through three months of fixtures starting October 17th 2022.
Viewers can tune in weekly on the EA Sports FIFA Twitch and EA Sports FIFA Esports YouTube channels as Manchester City Esports, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Esports, Fnatic, Complexity and many more take part.
Esports News UK has asked EA for the full list of teams in the EA Sports Cup and will update this article if we receive this info.
The EA Sports Cup culminates from January 16th to 21st 2023, with the crowning of a champion and determination on which two teams will advance to the FIFAe Club World Cup 2023 presented by EA Sports.
Brent Koning, VP of EA Esports, said:
“Backed by the support of world-class esports organisations and football clubs, the first-ever EA Sports Cup is an FIFA 23 Global Series monumental moment.”
Brent Koning, EA
“The allure of competition combined with dynamic storytelling unfolding on the pitch will create must-watch entertainment and motivate the masses to start their own competitive journeys in FIFA 23.”
FIFA 23 launches this Friday, September 30th 2022, with early access starting tomorrow (Tuesday September 27th) for those who bought the Ultimate Edition.
Elsewhere, traditional FGS 23 1v1 competition returns with the Road to the FIFAe World Cup 2023 presented by EA Sports. Online 1v1 competition starts with the launch of the FIFA 23 Ultimate Edition on September 27th.
A total of $1.2m prize money will be distributed at the FIFAe Finals 2023 in addition to the prize pool available throughout the season via various qualification events.
The FIFA 23 esports events and roadmap
Spanning the next ten months, competitors will participate in a multitude of 1v1 tournaments.
- The journey begins in FUT Division Rivals on September 27th with top performers advancing to one of nine FGS Regional Online Qualifiers.
- The FGS 23 Midseason Major welcomes all eligible players to compete in a massive open bracket in-person in London, England on the weekend of April 7th 2023.
- More than 30 football league partners and confederations will hold tournaments, giving competitors the opportunity to represent their favourite football club. The biggest and best football esports tournaments are returning as part of FGS 23, including the ePremier League, Virtual Bundesliga, eLaLiga Santander, eLigue 1 Uber Eats, eMLS, eSerie A TIM, KPN eDivisie, CONMEBOL eLibertadores, and the eChampions League. The remaining football league partners will be announced soon.
- The top 64 FGS 23 performers, qualifying through either FGS Regional Qualifiers or football league partner successes, will clash at the FGS Playoffs on June 23rd to 25th.
- FIFA 23 esports competition concludes at the FIFAe World Cup 2023 in late summer 2023. The top 24 FGS Playoffs performers representing FGS 23’s top stars will compete at the FIFAe World Cup 2023 where only one will be named world champion
- There will also be the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023, for players to represent their countries, and the FIFAe Club World Cup featuring some of the world’s best individual players
Last season, players from across the globe, over 780 clubs and over 80 nations participated in the different tournament series – making it the most engaging season on FIFAe social media channels ever.
“The FGS’s collection of the world’s top stars, top esports organisations, top football clubs, leagues and confederations will showcase the next generation of esports on the Road to the FIFAe World Cup 2023,” said Sam Turkbas, EA Sports FIFA Esports Commissioner.
“When you combine the starpower with a robust ecosystem giving players around the world the opportunity to become the next big thing, this is confidently the biggest year in franchise history.”
Sam Turkbas, EA Sports
“Following the positive feedback from the FIFAe Finals 2022, we’ll continue to double down on co-creating with fans, teams and stakeholders whilst offering more opportunities for partners with FIFA’s new commercial structure for football gaming and esports”, said Romy Gai, chief business officer at FIFA. “This season will further cement the FIFAe competitions as the climax for the world’s best and a place for the entire community to share their passion.”
The FGS 23 online qualifiers and majors are presented by PlayStation and will exclusively be played on PS5.
There’s more info on the FGS 23 on the website here.
Further reading: Why EA Sports FC and EA’s departure from FIFA is good news for football esports fans
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
