Summary
Having 2K Sports make a console-quality soccer simulation isn’t as simple as just picking up theFIFAlicense and getting to work, a senior Take-Two official has said. This remark was offered as part of a wider reflection on the recent rumors about 2K eyeing theFIFAlicense.
Following three decades' worth of collaboration,EA Sports and FIFA ended their partnership in late 2022. FIFA was reportedly demanding $250 million per year for renewing EA’s video game license.FIFA 23, released in September 2022, hence ended up being the U.S. developer’s final soccer sim before the company rebranded its hit franchise toEA Sports FC. Rumors about Take-Two’s 2K Sports being interested in picking up the license have been circulating the industry ever since.
FIFA License Is Just the Tip of the Soccer Rights Iceberg, Take-Two Says
Asked about the possibility of that happening during the company’s latest earnings call,Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnicksaid that making a console-quality soccer sim is a complicated task. Specifically, the FIFA license is just one small part of the equation, as it does not include the image rights of players, teams, or non-World Cup competitions. Instead, Take-Two would have to negotiate with a wide array of rights holders if it was to have any hope of delivering a game with a competitive quantity of licensed content, Zelnick explained, according to Seeking Alpha’stranscriptof the August 8 earnings call.
Overall, making a console soccer sim is an “incredibly difficult” endeavor that “takes a long time,” the executive opined. But Zelnick did not rule out the possibility of pursuing anEA Sports FCrivalanyway, noting that doing AAA soccer sims “right” means potentially capturing an audience of players who are both “very loyal and very embedded.”
Even Without FIFA, Take-Two Is Already in the Soccer Game Business
The executive also noted that Take-Two is already in the soccer game business on account of owningTop Eleven, which he labeled as “the number one mobile soccer manager title” in the world.Top Elevenis developed by Serbian studio Nordeus, which Take-Two acquired in June 2021 as part of a deal worth up to $378 million. According to its Google Play Store listing,Top Elevenamassed over 100 million lifetime downloads on Android alone.
While these extensive comments were all offered in response to a question about whether 2K is indeed pursuing the FIFA license, Zelnick did not address the original inquiry directly. He did, however, highlight Take-Two’s ever-growing library of sports franchises that encompasses everything from the NBA and NFL to the WWE, tennis, and golf, noting that he’s certain the publisher will continue expanding this side of its business “in due course.” Regardless of whether Take-Two indeed attempts to tackle AAA soccer sims anytime soon, the world’s top soccer governing body has long insisted thatanotherFIFAgame will happen without EA.
