14 DAY TRIAL // There's a lot of time before a new installment in the long-running FIFA series is launched this year, but a rumor is suggesting that the cover might no longer feature superstar Lionel Messi because of a contract dispute between him and the team at Electronic Arts handling the franchise.
The information comes from Le'Equipe, a French newspaper that traditionally has very solid connections in the football world, who claims that the current deal between the two sides is reaching its expiration date and that a new one is not apparently negotiated.
The report also says that Lionel Messi is no longer interested in being on the cover of the FIFA series, although it's unclear what his reasoning for this decision might be.
The Argentinian player, who has delivered some impressive performance for Barcelona in Spain, has been featured as the main star for the football sim for editions launched in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Electronic Arts will now probably seek to sign another major star to appear on the cover of FIFA, but it's unclear who might be interested.
The Bayern Munich team and Neymar are at the moment linked to the rival Pro Evolution Soccer series from Konami, so they are out of the running, and some Spanish sources are saying that a Real Madrid player might be in the running although Cristiano Ronaldo also appeared on two covers for the competition.
Given that the Premier League is the most watched championship in Europe, the team at EA Sports might seek to use one of the big stars from England, although so far no names have been rumored as being associated with FIFA 17.
The company might wait to make a decision until it becomes clear who the champions might be, and someone like Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal would be a good fit for the series.
FIFA 17 will probably get an official announcement just before E3 2016
EA Sports is keen to keep its current installment in the football sim popular for as long as possible because this is the kind of video game that can generate sales for almost 12 full months.
This is why new games are announced late in the year via a major trailer, with an official announcement about the cover star coming a few months later.
At the moment the studio is running a range of events centered around the Ultimate Team mode, it delivers more Team of the Week packages and offering bonus content, like a recent player tournament featuring players from Real Madrid.
Once the January transfer window ends, EA Sports will also introduce a range of changes designed to make sure that team rosters are accurate and will also tweak the stats of most players to make them representative of their real world performance.
FIFA 16 might also get another big title update at some point in February, with the most dedicated of players insisting that passing, player pace and defensive placement can be improved to make the experience more balanced.