EA FC and eFootball: Is the rivalry still ongoing?

Soccer game fans have always been very well served. However, over the years, the preferred game for getting together with friends has changed quite a bit. While for a long time we gathered to play Pro Evolution Soccer, FIFA, now EA Sports FC, seems to have dominated the scene.

In this special, we'll tell you how this rivalry unfolded over time, with licenses and mechanics arriving in each of the two offerings. Shall we?

We won't delve into the issue of piracy or discuss Bomba Patch's popularity in Brazil. What made Winning Eleven, or PES, so popular when we transitioned from the PS1 to the PS2 was the ease of the controls. The animations were fluid, and the game had everything: players who were at their peak in world soccer, most clubs and leagues, and a Master League still appreciated by many today.

The ingredients didn't stop there. WE and PES were the games of the moment. All the big players of the time graced the covers, both in physical and digital versions.

Meanwhile, FIFA was still struggling to win the admiration of sports fans. On the pitch, it was a more technical, tactical game, full of nuances that the casual player didn't want to know when choosing a team. In PES, the important thing was whether the arrow was up or down. In FIFA, the controls, the atmosphere, the graphics, and everything else didn't convey the same feeling as its competitor.

The console generation shift created a key moment for both franchises. While PES 2009 focused on the Become a Legend mode, FIFA 2009 offered online modes, easier-to-understand dribbling techniques, and demos on PS3 and Xbox 360. It became clear who was aiming to shape the future by making a community feel welcome.

At the same time, this transition brought another rivalry that transcended the virtual field and entered reality. FIFA became more fun, but conversely, the traditional PES still featured the Champions League, several other leagues, and gameplay that, even though dated, still attracted attention for the realism of the models of the world's top athletes.

However, with the arrival of FIFA 10, the game really started to change. The online modes in EA's game got even better. The career mode was as interesting as Master League. To top it off, the company started hunting for exclusives. PES had the English league, but with generic teams. FIFA saw the opening, and Konami didn't have time to react.

Back in FIFA 09, EA made a visionary move with its online modes: Ultimate Team. If signing players and making them shine was already fun in Master League, imagine competing against the rest of the world? The perfect formula. Special cards, chemistry, tactics that were previously seen as disposable became the center of the competition. UT, or FUT, is here to stay.

Alongside this, EA also invested in creating small communities around Clubs, Seasons mode, etc. Both modes are still present in the games, but UT has become the flagship. Meanwhile, Konami still relied on tradition, but even with the Libertadores Cup, it suffered a setback from the industry.

Even during PES 16, with a disastrous campaign for the launch of licensed Brazilian teams, including the Maracanã stadium, PES began to lose ground. Even the PES brand was abandoned, becoming eFootball. On the other side, things evolved differently. In FIFA 19, the checkmate: the Champions League finally came to EA Sports.

EA looked like Thanos himself in Avengers: Infinity War with all the Infinity Stones. And it was. For a few years, eFootball disappeared, returned as a free-to-play game for multiple platforms, including mobile phones, and will soon arrive on the Nintendo Switch 2. In FIFA 23, another major change came.

EA Sports and FIFA chose to go their separate ways. Would the sports franchise lose its licenses? What would happen to the UT mode? And the leagues? Once again proving even stronger than the sport's governing body, EA Sports kept everything: the mode, the licenses, and its position as the most downloaded, purchased, played, and praised football game by fans.

Of course, eFootball still has its place. Free-to-play, it has already amassed over 100 million downloads globally. And even so, other competitors like UFL, with its UT mode as a draw, GOALS, copying the same formula, and even Rematch, this one in third person and more arcade-style, have tried to dethrone EA FC. But even with constant complaints from the public, it remained there.

So, yes, there’s still competition between the two. Master League, so far, hasn't returned to eFootball, leaving a feeling of: "the game could turn around again at any moment". But FIFA/EA FC has already consolidated itself comfortably. We’ll hardly see anything like UT and the other online modes of the title in the industry. Those who tried, unfortunately (or not), failed.

FIFA even tried to say that it’d be big regardless of where it was. But without EA, it's preparing FIFA Heroes as the main game of the World Cup. We'll say it upfront: it has Maradona, Zeus, superpowers, and a lot of other things that might alienate the traditional player. But it's coming.

The battle for the audience continues, but for now, the title goes to EA Sports FC — which may even double down in our region by bringing fully licensed Brazilian clubs to Ultimate Team. This hasn't happened since FIFA 15.