British website MCV published a fascinating article this week about how the FIFA video game franchise went from an afterthought to a global phenomenon.
The story began in 1993 when EA’s European office pushed the North American company to give them permission to create a soccer game.
According to the assistant producer who worked on the game, EA’s North American office didn’t have high hopes for the game.
“They didn’t think we were going to sell a single copy of this.
“They thought it would be a complete disaster.”
Luckily, EA gave the team permission to create the game, and the company then proceeded on a long path to create FIFA International Soccer.
When the game was released in Europe, EA expected to sell almost 300,000 copies. But the team who came up with the vision for the game thought they could sell more. Within four weeks, FIFA International Soccer sold 500,000 copies, becoming the best selling game of the year.
If you’re a fan of the FIFA video game, the article is highly recommended and quite riveting.
Read Rejection, tragedy and billions of dollars – The story of FIFA.
