Instead of a traditional football sim, the FIFA organisation is planning an arcade style game full of mascot characters for 2026.
Back in 2021, EA decided it didn’t want to pay for the FIFA licence anymore (especially since the price had gone up to $1 billion), which led to its football games being rebranded as the far less catchy EA Sports FC.
As a result, the FIFA organisation itself promised it would offer its own officially licensed video games. However, aside from rumours of a 2K partnership, that have yet to go anywhere, FIFA has had nothing meaningful to share on the matter, allowing EA Sports FC to run unopposed.
That’s set to change in 2026, as FIFA has finally announced its first new video game. It’s not from 2K, though, and is far from anything football fans could have expected.
Dubbed FIFA Heroes and in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch (no mention of Switch 2), Android, and iOS, the announcement trailer doesn’t feature any gameplay, with the big reveal being that you play as cartoon animals.
Specifically, the first handful of confirmed playable characters are Maple, Zayu, and Clutch, a trio of mascots designed for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Each one represents one of the three countries where the event is being held: Canada, Mexico, and the US.
It does sound like there will be actual footballers in the game, according to FIFA, but it seems FIFA Heroes is aiming to be a far more casual, arcade-like experience, as opposed to a football sim – especially with talk of unique special moves for the mascot characters.
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