14 DAY TRIAL // For a long time, the consensus was that classic football (or as they used to call it there: soccer) would never become popular in the United States because the sport lacked enough interesting moments and the sheer physical elements associated with American football, the most popular sport in the country.
However, it seems that the performance of the national team and the increasing adoption of the FIFA series created by EA Sports is making football more popular than ever, and 2014 marked the moment when the franchise managed to register its second best overall sales in the US.
The studio has released an infographic which is designed to show the link between its simulation and the popularity of the sport.
The official announcement states that Rich Luker of the ESPN has studied the connection and has found strong statistical evidence for it.
EA Sports claims, “In addition to the Luker findings, over this past year, as mentioned previously, USA became the #2 best-selling territory for FIFA 14, and when we looked into game telemetry, we found some very strong engagement numbers. All this underscores the growing interest and popularity of the sport in America and the role the videogame plays in contributing to that growth.”
34 percent of all those who played FIFA in the United States have become pro football fans after they experienced the virtual version of the sport, and 50% have increased the time engaging with the activity after playing.
A lot more data is included in the image attached to this article.
FIFA 15 will continue to be supported in the coming months
At the moment, EA Sports is aiming to make sure that the community linked to FIFA 15 continues to play the video game in the first few months of next year, even as the first details about the version coming in late 2015 get unveiled for the first time.
A big third title update was launched for the football sim this week on all major platforms, which is designed to make some tweaks to the way lobbed balls and defender placement work while also upgrading player faces for some clubs.
At the same time, a Holiday version of the game is being offered on the Origin service, with a range of extra content including the ability to use Lionel Messi in the Ultimate Team mode from the start as a loaned player.
The next big update will probably be offered in early February 2015.
