Fifa & Netflix

Football and films

Electronic Arts took the FIFA licence and made one of the most popular and successful franchises in videogames. Such is the size of the FIFA licence now that it was all but impossible for the World Cup company to replicate the success with any new partner when EA and FIFA parted company a few years ago. There’s been plenty of speculation on who would pick up the future of FIFA videogames, and now we know.

Netflix has announced that they are partnering with FIFA to bring ‘a newly reimagined FIFA football simulation game exclusively on Netflix Games.’ The new FIFA game will ‘allows Netflix members to experience the emotion and drama of the tournament in its purest, most joyful form — in a format that’s fast to learn, thrilling to master, and built for anyone to jump in. Plus, you can play solo or with friends online: All you need is Netflix and your phone’, according to Netflix anyway.

I can only see the news that a new FIFA game is going to be limited to Netflix and will use a phone for control as a step backwards; though it might be better financially for the FIFA organisation in the short term, a bad game is bad for the long term.

Playing videogames, writing about videogames, considering videogames—that about sums it up. Videogames are the one hobby that I’ve kept since I was only little, zapping ducks on the NES or knocking out MR. X. And when I’m not enjoying classics from the bit generation of games or checking out those earliest of polygons, I’m probably playing something from today’s age of modern gaming: if I’m not complaining about it. Something I’m doing at the moment? Battling through the Bitmap Bureau Collection.