FIFA shifts to multi-partner digital football strategy ahead of World Cup 2026
FIFA is replacing the old one-game model with a web of mobile, console, Roblox and esports partners before World Cup 2026. The biggest shift may land on phones first.
FIFA has stopped acting like it needs one flag-bearing football game to cover digital football. Its updated Digital Football Strategy, published May 28, 2026, lays out a portfolio built to connect partners and platforms across a global gaming and esports ecosystem, with pathways from hyper-casual play to competitive competition. FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström said the goal is a sustainable, adaptable setup that matches how football is experienced now and how it will keep changing.
The move grows out of FIFA’s break from the old EA SPORTS model. FIFA and Electronic Arts extended their licensing agreement in 2013 through December 31, 2022, but FIFA’s 2021 update made clear that the EA arrangement had become non-exclusive only in the simulation category, opening broader gaming rights to other publishers. That reset is now visible in a lineup that stretches far beyond the traditional sim lane: eFootball, Football Manager 26, FIFA Rivals, FIFA Heroes, FIFA Super Soccer, the upcoming FIFA World Cup Launch Edition and Rocket League all sit inside the new digital picture, alongside partners including Roblox, Epic Games, Konami, SEGA, Sports Interactive, Gamefam, Mythical Games and Solace Games.
For mobile gaming, that breadth matters. FIFA Super Soccer on Roblox now reaches more than 10 million monthly active users and has logged more than 1 billion plays. Before the FIFA branding, Gamefam’s Super League Soccer was averaging 9.5 million monthly active users, 1.5 million daily gameplay sessions and 11-minute sessions, showing the scale that FIFA has found by leaning into a more social, lighter-touch format. FIFA Heroes is also set to launch on mobile and PC first before later arriving on consoles, while FIFA and Netflix announced in December 2025 that a football simulation game developed by Delphi Interactive would land exclusively for Netflix members in summer 2026.
The esports side is expanding just as fast. FIFA said more than 16 million players took part on the road to the FIFAe Finals through Konami’s eFootball, and FIFAe content generated more than 1.1 billion views last year. FIFAe Finals 2025 took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from December 10 to 19, 2025, with a record 94 nations in qualification, and FIFA says the 2026 season will involve more than 120 nations across qualification pathways. FIFAe Finals 2025 and 2026 will feature Rocket League and eFootball, giving the ecosystem both the big-stage sim crowd and the adjacent competitive communities.
By World Cup 2026, FIFA’s digital presence is likely to feel less like one giant annual release and more like a stitched-together network of mobile, PC, console, Roblox and esports experiences. That means more licensed football for players, but also a more fragmented pitch where no single game gets to own the whole sport.
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