The unveiling of FC Pro as a new eSports ecosystem for EA SPORTS FC 24 is causing concern in the scene. The shift in focus to national leagues and clubs is said to threaten the future of the organisations in particular
EA SPORTS has caused quite a few question marks with its deep dive article on eSports in the post-FIFA era. Players, coaches and others familiar with the scene have spoken out – and in some cases painted bleak pictures of the competitive future in EA SPORTS FC 24. At the centre of the predictions are professionals and organisations that do not cooperate with football clubs. This is because clubs are soon to be given significantly more power and relevance.
The 2023/24 eSports season will culminate in the FC Pro World Championship – the new FIFAe World Cup. 32 participant slots are to be filled for the event in June 2024. 28 of these tickets will be awarded through national leagues. Only four eSportsmen can qualify via the FC Pro Open, the presumed counterpart to the FIFA Global Series. The chance of playing on the big stages without a club is likely to dwindle considerably.
The great search for football clubs has begun
EA SPORTS has spoken exclusively of 1vs1 structures in the initial announcement. International team competitions such as the FIFAe Club World Cup were not addressed. However, the developer wants to “reveal more in the coming weeks”. So it is quite possible that further branches of the tournament system will still be revealed to the public. Nevertheless, the panic within the scene is great for the time being.
“To all interested football clubs: Please contact me,” Dutch eSportsman Dani ‘Dani’ Hagebeuk wrote on Twitter. “I will play at top level again, I promise.” Britain’s Tom ‘Hashtag_Stokes’ Stokes is also looking for a club on social media – his current employer Hashtag United has allowed him to do so. In general, there are probably more professional players than ever before who are free agents at the moment.
The big fight for the coveted places at the clubs has begun. The organisations, on the other hand, could fall by the wayside. They are not eligible to participate in national e-leagues like the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL). “To survive, all organisations – even the best ones – have to become agencies,” says Moroccan eSports coach Bassy ‘BassyS’ Saad. He related this analysis only to FIFA-specialised organisations.
The broad-based top teams like Fnatic or Vitality would probably just “withdraw from EA-eSport”. ‘BassyS’ predicts that 90 per cent of organisations will “abandon the virtual football ship”. In the short term, there is only one chance for them to stay in business: Placing their players as agencies with clubs whose public eSports communications and content creation they handle simultaneously.
The expertise of the organisations is currently still essential for many football clubs. But Saad also believes that sooner or later, clubs will absorb the knowledge – and external agencies will become obsolete. “When the interest of the clubs grows, they will want to acquire the expertise to reduce the enormous budget that experts devour,” ‘BassyS’ posits.
DFB eNational coach Benedikt ‘Salz0r’ Saltzer works as a coach mainly for the eSports organisation Nomen Est Omen (NEO) – and criticises the system change. “In the run-up, it was speculated that FIFA would hold back EA as far as eSports issues are concerned,” says ‘SaLz0r’. “But unfortunately, the opposite is proving true. EA is clearly taking a step back since they have sole power.”
Only “four slots worldwide for all players who don’t have a football club behind them” is “a massive step backwards” in terms of the FC Pro World Championship. Saltzer also worries about the “power” it would give individual clubs. He fears big changes in the salary structure. “It’s a shame about the beloved eSports,” the former pro concluded negatively about FC Pro.
Even eSports host and commentator Brandon Smith was already concerned about players’ salaries. Using the example of the eLaLiga, he drew a possible picture: EA SPORTS could pay the league a budget for a season, from which the league in turn supports the clubs financially. The clubs could then decide on their squad composition – and how much money is paid to the players.
“The World’s Game” just a cynical marketing slogan?
As the number of clubs participating in the relevant partner leagues is limited, they have the longer leverage in negotiations. It is impossible to predict how much prize money EA SPORTS will pay out under FC Pro. The most promising option for continuing to make a living as a professional eSports player is therefore the clubs. They are now likely to be spoilt for choice with the current glut of free agents.
“Anyone who works in an organisation and gets the same offer from a club – same salary or less – will go to that club,” predicts ‘BassyS’. “Why? The structural stability, the name recognition, the salary package, the progression you can make from eSports to football…” EA SPORTS seems to want to boost the symbiosis between virtual and real turf by prioritising football clubs.
Another problem could be the distribution of EA’s partners: While Europe has a whole 19 e-leagues, Asia and Africa do not have a single one. Even Brazil – two-time winner of the FIFAe Nations Cup – has no national competition structure of this kind. If this does not change by the start of the season, “The World’s Game” as a marketing slogan for EA SPORTS FC could quickly degenerate into a cynical joke.
