Key Points
Sept 29 (Reuters) - Electronic Arts (EA.O) on Friday launched its first soccer game without the FIFA tag, betting its "FC 24" title will maintain the momentum in its best-selling franchise and provide a bulwark against an industry slowdown...
A near three-decade partnership between EA and FIFA ended last year over what media reports said were demands that the videogame maker double its yearly payments of $150 million to the governing body of world soccer...
The game's success is crucial to EA as some analysts estimate the franchise accounts for a major chunk of the company's sales and its $32 billion market value...
Analysts also believe the FIFA split should unlock a bigger marketing budget for "FC 24", which has retained licenses to most of the soccer leagues, teams and players...
Pachter also pointed to the strength in the franchise's Ultimate Team game mode, which accounts for more than a billion dollar in sales annually by allowing gamers to purchase card packs to create their virtual teams...
