FIFA 23 had series' largest ever number of players at launch

EA has triumphantly termed the recently-released FIFA 23 as “record-breaking” – for hitting 10.3 million players in its first week, and having the “biggest launch period in EA Sports FIFA franchise history”.

FIFA 23 is, of course, also the last EA Sports FIFA franchise release in history – with the series set to transition to EA Sports FC from next year.

Signs were good that FIFA 23 had performed well at launch this year. Launched on 30th September, the games first week of UK boxed game sales slightly beat those of FIFA 22 – despite the overall trend of declining physical game sales in favour of digital.

UK sales data from GfK Chart-Track (via GamesIndustry.biz) showed PlayStation 5 has now become the largest platform for FIFA launch sales – with 41 percent of all boxed copies sold for Sonys newer consle. 30 percent of sales went to PS4, 17 percent to Xbox One, and six percent for both Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.

It is, of course, a big year for football – and this years FIFA will include elements for the upcoming Mens World Cup in Qatar, as well as the Womens World Cup set to be held next summer in Australia and New Zealand.

“The response from our fans has been nothing short of incredible, and were thrilled that our community is playing with their favourite players and teams across FIFA 23 in record numbers,” said Nick Wlodyka, boss of EA Sports FC (yes, that title has already updated to reflect next years change).

“With both the Mens and Womens World Cups, and exciting updates to our womens club football content in game still yet to come, were just getting started on providing players with the most authentic and immersive experience yet.”

EA Sports announced its decision to walk away from the FIFA brand earlier this year – due in part to rising costs of licensing the name. It will now continue its football series with a new title beginning in late 2023.

FIFA, meanwhile, has confidently said it will now succeed in video games via oppurtunities elsewhere – with an “immersive experience” thing for Roblox looking like one of the first.