Why is FIFA the most successful football title in the gaming industry?

When FIFA 14 released last year it took the number one position for sales records in South Africa on all platforms and sold millions of copies world-wide. One of the reasons for the continued success of the FIFA franchise is EA Sports' partnerships with real world football organisations like the Premier League. Teaming up with the giants of soccer enables EA Sports to tap into their expertise and resources - thus making every FIFA game an authentic example of electronic sports in football. With FIFA, EA Sports extends the experience even further with initiatives like the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index (the only official player rating index of the Barclays Premier League which measures a player's all round contribution to the success of his team), and the Fantasy Premier League (the 2014/15 premier league has a monthly prize £1,000 and a grand 1st prize of £25,000.)  This week the Premier League announced that EA Sports will continue to be its official technology partner for at least up to 2019. The agreement will also now incorporates the sponsorship of the League’s Goal Decision System. EA Sports and the Premier League released a joint statement detailing the changes this will bring to FIFA 15 and the 2014/2015 football season.

Press release:

The new agreement will showcase the Barclays Premier League as the most authentic league in EA SPORTSFIFA 15, with an unprecedented level of detail in the players and all 20 stadiums, as well as the integration of broadcast quality graphics, audio and commentary that ensures FIFA 15 fans will feel the emotion and intensity of the most popular football league in the world. The deal has given EA SPORTS access to all 20 Barclays Premier League clubs to enable the FIFA 15 team to capture 3D head scans of over 200 players, build realistic stadiums for all 20 League clubs, and capture the emotion of the crowd by recording live match atmosphere during the 2013/14 season.

“We’re extremely pleased to announce the extension of our partnership with the Premier League, the most played league in EA SPORTS FIFA,” said Peter Moore, Chief Operating Officer, EA. “It brings our award-winning game to new levels of authenticity and realism, and enables fans to immerse themselves in the drama and emotion of the league. And as a life-long Liverpool FC fan, I know exactly how that feels!”

“EA SPORTS is a long term licensee of the Premier League and we are extremely pleased to extend our existing agreements with them, and to add new elements to our partnership including their sponsorship of the Goal Decision System,” commented Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the Premier League. “They have worked with our clubs to enhance the Premier League element of FIFA 15 like never before and, combined with their sponsorship of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index and our Fantasy Premier League game, they continue to engage with football fans in a variety of innovative and exciting ways.”

The new agreement enables FIFA 15 to showcase the Barclays Premier League in the most authentic representation ever, by including the following features:

1. Broadcast Graphics – Broadcast quality overlay graphics that are synonymous with the international TV broadcasts will communicate to fans all the important game information: team sheets, formations, score and clock, next fixture, player stats, and more.
2. Audio and Commentary – The ambience and cheers of over 20 Barclays Premier League matches were recorded and implemented into FIFA 15 to bring realistic audio to goals, misses, whistles, and crowd-specific chants. The Barclays Premier League Anthem will also play at the start of each League match up.  
3. All 20 Stadiums – Every stadium in the Barclays Premier League is in the game and looks, feels, and sounds just as it does in real life, including authentic representation of animated LEDs and advertising boards. 
4. Authentic Player Headscans – Using the latest 3D scanning technology, the FIFA 15 development team visited every Barclays Premier League club in the 2013/14 season to scan players and capture their likeness. Over 200 new player heads will be scanned into FIFA 15, giving them the most realistic player model possible.
5. Goal Decision System – Making its debut in FIFA 15, Goal Decision System will leave no question as to whether or not the ball crossed the line. Replay animations will emulate TV broadcasts playing after close calls and goal line clearances.