Looking Ahead to the 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup

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Friday, November 24th, 2017 | Written by Charles Washington

The global football governing body FIFA recently came together with video game developer EA to announce the first ever FIFA eWorld Cup in 2018.

New Era Dawns for eSports

The competition was put together with the intention of recreating the drama and inclusive nature of the World Cup tournament held once every four years, in which some of the game’s greatest players and teams come together to compete and see who is truly the best in the world.

Next year’s World Cup is set to be hosted by Russia, and in the meantime FIFA and EA are taking advantage of the occasion and the boom in eSports to organize a series of online qualifying tournaments for their very own online world cup equivalent. The top 128 qualifiers, half of which will be from the PS4 and half from the Xbox community, will subsequently move ahead to the FIFA 18 Global Series Play-Offs where they will compete to enter the FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Final.

The qualifying round begins in November 2017 and is expected to last through to July 2018, with the ultimate goal being to crown the eWorld Cup Champion at the same time as the World Champions are crowned in summer.

For the Players

Todd Sitrin, the General Manager of Competitive Gaming Division with EA, said that last year was a turning point for competitive FIFA, which succeeded in attracting millions of players and spectators alike through it soccer competitions. Elaborating further, Sitrin stated:

“In partnership with FIFA, we’re accelerating the growth of competitive gaming through the EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018, producing more competition, attracting more competitors and connecting with more fans than ever before.”

FIFA had already previously hosted a FIFA Interactive World Cup, but the new world cup tournaments adds a layer of authenticity to FIFA eSports. FIFA 18 has a deep level of realism that is bound to improve the exposure it has on eSport, as well as improving the commercial viability of the game.

Growing Popularity of FIFA eSports

The announcement serves as additional proof of how FIFA is growing within the eSports world. Games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and DOTA 2 have been dominating the eSports world for years now.

The League of Legends World Championships held in 2017, for example, offered a total prize pool worth around $5 million, while The International 2017 had a prize pool worth $24 million. By comparison, the 2017 FUT Championship only had a prize pool worth $400,000.

Needless to say, FIFA is gaining more popularity online than ever before, and these days there is an upsurge in players streaming FIFA games via YouTube, while an increase in corporate sponsorship has introduced more revenue to eSports. Soccer teams are also beginning to sign up professional eSports players as representatives for international competitions.

Wolfsburg from the Bundesliga, for instance, have their very own eSports team, with online gamers David “DaveBtw” Bytheway and Benedikt “BenediktSaltzer” Saltzer now the team’s official online players. Similarly, the Premier League’s Manchester City has also secured eSports representation by bringing on board Kez Brown.

In addition, there is also a YouTube-based soccer club called Hashtag United F.C that has now set up an eSports wing of their team. Players currently representing the team at a range of global tournaments includes Agge Rosenmeier, Michael LaBelle, Ivan Lapanie, Ryan Pessoa, and Harry Hesketh. How it works is that Hashtag United pay their players to play in tournaments, but take a share of their winnings. This is an approach other teams are also beginning to take. There’s no telling how far eSports soccer will go as money from professional teams starts flooding into the game.

What’s Next?

It looks like the future of FIFA as an eSport is limitless. Millions of people saw the action at the FUT Championship unfold, and there is now plenty of proof that people are interested in watching FIFA action in eSport form. Furthermore, if EA and FIFA continue working together to create an eSports version of real-life football tournaments then more players will subsequently be able to fulfill their life-long dreams of playing soccer on the grand stage.

There’s still quite a journey ahead of FIFA before it’s competing properly with other eSports, though. The playability of FIFA’s online game continues to receive criticism, making it imperative that these concerns are swiftly addressed. That said, there exists an abundance of interest in the game, and the potential for funding will further help it to keep on evolving as an eSport. This new FIFA eWorld Cup could well prove to be the first step in a long and lucrative journey.