The EA Sports FC Pro esports ecosystem has today been revealed by EA, and some players are not happy with it, with some orgs stepping back.
FIFA is one of the UK’s most popular game series, and our region has produced some of the best esports players in it, but it’s all change as EA has split from FIFA to produce its own game series: EA Sports FC.
EA Sports FC 24, the first game in EA’s own series, is out on September 29th 2023, though buyers of the Ultimate Edition have been able to play it seven days early. The title currently has an average review score rating on Metacritic of 77 (PS5) and 80 (Xbox) at the time of writing this article.
Today, however, is big for those who have historically played in the FIFA esports scene, as EA has revealed the EA Sports FC Pro esports ecosystem.
EA Sports FC Pro goes PS5-only, announces FC Pro Open, FC Pro Leagues, domestic tournaments and more
EA has said that ‘FC Pro will be conducted using EA Sports FC 24 for the PlayStation 5 console only’, meaning Xbox has been ditched for its 1v1 esports circuits. This isn’t a huge surprise, however, given that FIFA esports has largely been on PlayStation during the last couple of years.
EA has announced a mix of esports tournaments for EA Sports FC Pro, including ‘in-person events throughout the season’, and says it will be ‘EA’s biggest ever program of football esports’.
There will be two regular season competitions: FC Pro Open (a $1m open circuit for competitive players running October 2023 to February 2024) and FC Pro Leagues (an ecosystem that features League Partners from February to May 2024).
“In collaboration with our League Partners, our season-long FC Pro journey is the ultimate platform for our Ultimate Team enthusiasts to showcase their passion for FC.”
Sam Turkbas, Senior Director & Commissioner, Football Esports, EA
Players from ten regions will begin by climbing the online FC Pro Open Ladder, with top competitors qualifying for regional online events. From there, top seeded regional players will be brought together in London to battle against one another for their chance to compete in the FC Pro Open, an eight-week competition showcasing the best players in the world.
On the Pro Leagues, EA said there will be ‘a series of tentpole tournaments presented alongside FC Pro’s Football League Partners, each offering opportunities to earn prize money and qualify for the FC Pro World Championship’.
Elsewhere, EA also said its partnering with football leagues and federations– including the Premier League, Conmebol Libertadores, LALIGA, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, MLS, and more – to ‘offer domestic tournaments that bring each league’s iconic teams and players to the forefront of competition’. So, expect something like the ePremier League to be revealed with further details later on. Update: This has now been officially revealed, with a £100,000 prize pool.
Plus, EA said there’s news on ‘an all-new eChampions League program for 2024 coming soon’.
‘They’re forcing esports orgs out’ – some orgs including Fnatic step back as EA Sports FC Pro favours football clubs
“Leveraging EA Sports FC’s global ties to traditional sports organisations, players will compete under the banner of familiar football clubs as they showcase the upper echelon of EA Sports FC gameplay,” EA said.
This implies some traditional esports orgs may step back as EA opts to favour football clubs instead.
Esports News UK has spoken to several sources who have said some esports orgs have ‘scaled back’ their involvement in the ecosystem, while others will look to get involved throughout the seasons with open events, create content and partner up with clubs in the league.
One source told us that several orgs have dropped their football esports players since the news dropped.
One major London-based organisation, Fnatic, have stepped back temporarily as they ‘assess opportunities in the coming months’, with their long-running UK FIFA player Tekkz thanking them for the last four years.
London-based organisation Excel Esports also recently let go of one of their star players, Brit Tom Leese, who joined Excel two years ago as the biggest FIFA esports transfer signing in history.
They have kept fellow Brit, Gorilla, as a content creator and esports player.
Excel Esports CEO Tim Reichert told Esports News UK: “The new ecosystem pushes esports teams more or less out and also for that reason we did not continue with Tom.
“The esport is very much focused on their partnered leagues and teams, with very little opportunities (even less than in the past) for teams, so that we focus more on the casual and content aspect of EA FC.”
Jeppe Højfeldt, FIFA/EA FC Head Coach for Finland, also expressed concerns in this post below, saying: “They forced the organisations out. It just isn’t worth it for the organisations anymore. And let’s not forget that the organisations in most cases have been the ones paying the player wages.”
The news also comes shortly after Man City let go of their UK FIFA esports players, though there are rumours suggesting they may sign some new players soon.
There’s also the idea that if a player from an esports org qualifies for the World Championship through a domestic league, would they be allowed to represent their esports org at the World Championship? We’ve reached out to EA to ask.
Some in the EA Sports FC community are upset over lack of open slots in the FC Pro World Championship
Finally, an FC Pro World Championship (June 2024) will see the top 32 EA Sports FC players face off to be crowned the first FC Pro World Champion. 28 of these will be from the Pro Leagues, while just four will be from the Open.
Some took to social media platform X to complain about this, with one user saying it’s an embarrassing situation.
“It excludes many people who have made sacrifices and investments,” they said. “It allows people without merit to compete only because they have the right connections in the teams. Mmany valuable players will be left out. Zero meritocracy.”
There was more reaction to EA’s official announcement post on X here:
EA also published the EA Sports FC Pro Official Rules, and as expected there are a lot of detailed and strict sections in here. For example: “EA has the right to publicly announce penalties that have been levied on competitors, and such competitors waive any right of legal action against EA, and/or any of its affiliates.”
Players can register for EA Sports FC Pro here.
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.
