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Imagine the reaction of someone who paid for a new FIFA Ultimate Team player pack and happened to get Diego Maradona. With 95 Dribbling, 91 Shooting and an overall of 95, the late football legend would have been the star man in any team. Now imagine the same person's reaction after EA decides to remove Maradona's FUT card.
It looks like EA may have to pull Maradona's icon card due to trademark related issues. As reported by Argentinian news website Infobae (thanks, Eurogamer), a trademark rights claim has been recognised by an Argentinian judge. EA had negotiated the deal for Maradona's name and likeness rights with his long-time friend and former manager Stéfano Ceci. However, Ceci could not prove that he possessed the legal powers needed to sign such agreements.
Infobae claims to have had access to Marcelo Gota, the judge who passed the ruling. A Google translation of his statement reads: "It is necessary to make room for the precautionary measure aimed at avoiding the use of the designation in alleged infringement of trademark rights (...) without prejudice to setting a real surety in order to protect the rights of the counterpart, taking into account the seriousness of the the requested measure. Regarding Electronic Ars INC, the precautionary measure requested to immediately cease the use of the indicated brands that by whatever means they are carrying out”.
It's unclear what the repercussions of this ruling will be, but as of now Maradona's FUT card is still present in FIFA 21 and 22.
We've reached out to EA for comment.
Speaking of FUT, according to EA's July to September financial results, the company is making about $1.1 billion thanks to its live service model – that's two-thirds of the company's $1.85 billion Q2 revenue. Q2 2022 was "the strongest second quarter" in the publisher's almost 40-year history, and this has spurred it to further grow its live service offerings, particularly on mobile.
As a comparison, non-service games only raked in around $700 million, with 62 percent of units sold digitally. According to EA it runs live services across more than 25 games currently, and expects to generate 70 percent of its incoming transactions this year from this model.