The UK's Favorite Game
FIFA 23 was the best-selling game of last year in the UK, with over 10 million copies sold in the first week. While players often continue the series, buying the new release every year in order to keep up with the latest teams.
Unexpected Disappearance
But not everyone has £70 ($70) – or if you buy the Ultimate Edition £100 ($100) – to spend at every new release, and instead players wait for a sale or play an older version. That’s why despite EA FC 24’s release, FIFA 23 still has around 30k players online every day.
EA and FIFA Divorce
Both EA FC 24 and the FIFA series are made by the same developer, EA Sports, but the series was rebranded following EA and FIFA’s very public divorce. Due to the rebrand, EA Sports no longer has the right to use the FIFA name, and while people knew about the name change going forward, they were not aware of the effect it would have on older games.
Sudden Removal
Without any notice, all FIFA games that were previously on sale have now been removed from all online storefronts. EA removed FIFA 15, 16, 17, and 18 back in 2021, but later games were available for purchase until yesterday (September 26). This means that FIFA 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 are no longer available to be purchased, no matter which platform you wish to play on.
Still Playable, for Now
If you already own these games you will still be able to play them, and more importantly find matches to play with others online. FIFA 22 and 23 are still available via subscriptions like EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, if you want to dive in. There’s no indication that these will be removed anytime soon, but EA Sports is no longer selling the game.
If you want to know more about the latest game, you can check out our EA FC 24 review.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
