EA Sports announced yesterday it was ending its two-decade long video game partnership with FIFA.

From 2023, its football video game series will continue under a new brand – EA Sports FC.

Alongside their 300 licence partners across the sport, EA says they’re ready to take global football experiences to new heights, on behalf of all fans around the world.

This is good news for fans of women’s football, who have often been left disappointed when wanting to play as a female star on FIFA.

Women’s teams have featured in the popular franchise since FIFA 16, but only international sides up until this point.

Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, and the United States were the 12 teams initially included in the game.

FIFA has since expanded and added Belgium, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Scotland.

Gamers can currently play as women in FIFA 22’s Pro Clubs mode, and former Arsenal star Alex Scott became the first English-speaking female broadcaster on the game this year.

Earlier this year, Tom Henderson from Xfire reported that FIFA 23 will include a number of women’s football leagues and the Women’s World Cup.

This is still yet to be confirmed, but it seems as if women’s football fans will soon be appeased by EA Sports FC anyway.

What does EA Sports FC mean for women’s football?

All the signs point towards the inclusion of domestic women’s football teams on EA Sports FC.

In the statement released by EA, it is suggested the game will “innovate in new areas”, such as women’s football.

“EA SPORTS FC brings the strength of more than 300 individual licensed partners, giving players access to more than 19,000 athletes across 700 teams, in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues around the world,” the statement reads.

“Through EA SPORTS FC, EA will further grow the reach and power of its football licensing portfolio by retaining and expanding the licensed football content, scaling to new experiences, and increasing access through more platforms.

“EA will also build on a foundation of inclusivity and innovate in new areas around both women’s and grassroots football for the global community.”

In addition, women’s football teams have been used across the branding for EA Sports FC, including Lyon, PSG and Manchester City.

Tottenham Hotspur Women, a side in the Women’s Super League, even posted about the new franchise. “Join the club,” the Twitter post read. “Learn more July 23”.

As a result, women’s football fans can likely be confident about increased representation on EA Sports FC.