Categories
FIFA

EA Sports Considering a FIFA Rebrand: How Will This Affect Players?

EA Sports released a statement on their website detailing the future of football and the FIFA series. The developer is considering renaming the series and rebranding the games going forward. On a business level this make sense, but what does this mean for players?

FIFA is essentially synonymous with football games at this point, and fans of the series may have grown attached to the name. However, EA Sports has plans to expand the games in a way that can get pigeonholed by continually bearing the name of one particular association. In their statement, EA explains a bit about this vision, saying:

“We continually invest in the partnerships and licenses that are most meaningful to players… The breadth of our partnerships and our ecosystem of licensed content will enable us to continue to bring unrivaled authenticity in our EA SPORTS football games”

FIFA may be EA’s most high-profile partnership, but they license over 700 teams and more than 30 leagues from around the world. There’s also interest in expanding the inclusion of women’s and grassroots football. EA feels as if the FIFA name does not accurately represent the broader vision for the future of the series.

What this means is that players can look forward to an even larger scale game with new content. That includes more leagues, a deeper dive into women’s football, as well as the different depictions and licenses that come along with that. There may be a nostalgia aspect to the FIFA name, but it’ll be traded for the ability to play in new locations and with new players as the game expands. Business wise, this change has been a long time coming; with many who feel the games have done more for the actual association than licensing the name ever did for EA. From a players perspective the name doesn’t matter as much, but the direction in which this means the series is going definitely does.

Categories
League of Legends

DetonatioN FocusMe Makes History At Worlds 2021

Japanese League of Legends team DetonatioN FocusMe have made history at Worlds 2021, becoming the first team from the country to make it to the group stage. The team defeated Cloud 9 during the play in stage to secure the victory.

https://twitter.com/teamDFM/status/1446151706304139266

Their victory secures a group stage spot for an LJL team for the first time in Worlds history.

DetonatioN FocusMe have become somewhat of a staple of international League of Legends competition in recent years. The team reached their first Worlds in 2018.

They followed it up with an 8-9th place finish at the 2019 Mid Season Invitational, and another trip to Worlds that year. Again the team failedd to make it out of the Play-in stage, but still took at least one series win that tournament.

The team missed out on Worlds in and MSI in 2020, but returned for MSI 2021, and now Worlds 2021. The playoff position already marks the highest finish at an international tournament for both the team, but the LJL region as a whole.

Surprise at the victory swept over the Twitter world as the LJL team claimed a win over North America’s Cloud9. NA’s representatives in the play-ins have underperformed, and may contribute once more to the NA flying home early memes.

But beyond salty NA fans, most who love competitive League of Legends are excited to see the tiny Japanese server represented well on the international stage.