How Integral is EA's Football Gaming Series to Football's Global Profile and Audience?
It truly goes without saying that FIFA has changed the world of football. The acceleration of a simple computer game has actually gone on to have a huge impact on sports as we know it. When the gaming series launched back in 1993, not many people expected it to have the impact that it did. It has become a cultural juggernaut and now nearly 30 years on, it is more famous than the original organisation.
When FIFA First Came Out
If you look back to when FIFA first came out, you will soon see that things have changed quite a lot. It has been developed by EA Sports Canada and the main target was the Canadian football fan base. Back then, the United States was a desert for football. There was no such thing as a national league and there was no kind of professional football outside of indoor soccer either. FIFA awarded the cup in 1994 to the US but to a lot of Americans, the game did not exist at all. It was confined largely to women’s soccer but since then, things have changed quite a lot. The game actually helped the sport to go mainstream and a lot of this comes down to numerous factors. First of all, you have the general look of the game. A lot of Americans didn’t have much access to live elite soccer, and the only way they could get it was through their TV on certain channels. FIFA looks like televised soccer, with the bells and whistles that come with TV coverage. This has helped to change the US perspective of the game and it also helped it to take off on a global level. If you look at FIFA 95 onwards, you will soon see that the game started to boast real players and that real stadiums were also included. Everything that Americans expected from Madden could now be found in FIFA.
The Casino Industry
Another thing that you need to know about football is that it also helped to change the casino industry too. When FIFA came out, it didn’t have much competition but now, there are a huge range of games that have been brought out to try and emulate that experience. A huge turning point was when people started to create football-themed slots. A lot of people love the fabulous no deposit bonus selection that casinos have to offer, and when they began to create football-themed games, this gave people another avenue of entertainment. Now it’s not just FIFA that is paving the way for football entertainment. Now there are so many more games that are steering the helm.
FIFA has contributed massively to the amount of growth that the industry has experienced. If you look back to 1993, you will soon see that it would have been impossible to predict how much things would change but now there are many ways to enjoy the world of football, whether it is through live entertainment, fantasy football, slots, or even FIFA.
The Effect of Perception
The general effect of this tends to come down to the perception of football themselves. The freedom to try new things has always been a huge part of FIFA but quite often it has been frowned upon by professionals. They think that it comes down to showboating. That being said, things have changed quite a lot since then. Now it is possible for people to try new things, and this is particularly the case when it comes down to skill moves. People are able to develop their own personal brands depending on how they are performing in the game and on top of this, Americans are also able to create online personalities that almost reflect that of people in real life. This has helped to push the industry forward more than ever and it just goes to show how much things have changed as the years have gone by. Who knows what the future holds for games such as FIFA, but right now it goes without saying, that it has changed the world of football for the better.
It has helped to open football to a whole new market, and it has also given people the chance to really delve deep into the mechanics of the game, which is huge to say the least. This has helped them to attract new fans, while also solidifying the game as being one of the best out there.
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