It has been three years since the high-profile, acrimonious divorce between FIFA and Electronic Arts, a split that ended a 30-year dynasty and left the world’s most recognizable football brand without a video game to call its own.
Now, FIFA is ready to return to the pitch — but not on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, or even PC. In a move that could hint at a massive shift in sports gaming, the next “reimagined FIFA football simulation game” will launch exclusively on Netflix.
The unnamed title is scheduled for release next summer, just in time for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will be staged across the United States. It is being developed and published by Delphi Interactive, a studio that, as of this writing, has yet to publish a single video game.
If you’ve been following the industry drama, you know the stakes are incredibly high. For three decades, EA Sports and FIFA were synonymous, building a juggernaut franchise estimated to have around 150 million players globally. That partnership dissolved in 2022 after contract negotiations collapsed, leading EA to rebrand its series as EA Sports FC in 2023.
FIFA promised it would find a new partner to build “the only authentic, real game,” and it appears that partner is Netflix. The streaming giant has been aggressively expanding its gaming library, and this is arguably its biggest acquisition yet. Just like other titles in the Netflix catalog, the upcoming FIFA game will be available for free to all subscribers, sans ads and in-app purchases.
According to Delphi Interactive, the goal isn’t just to compete with EA’s deep simulation mechanics but to design “the most fun, approachable, and global football game ever created.” This statement will no doubt raise some eyebrows. For decades, the FIFA license has been synonymous with recreating actual football, so it remains to be seen how fans will react to a potentially more arcade-style experience.
The new FIFA title will join the mobile version of Football Manager 26, which launched on the service earlier this year. If you consider yourself a gamer, you’ve likely noticed Netflix amassing a high-quality lineup of ports, including the original Red Dead Redemption and WWE 2K25, both of which are currently available for free to subscribers.
And if Netflix is listening, we have one more request: Pry the NBA 2K franchise away from Apple. The last premium 2K title for Android launched way back in September 2019. Since then, the full mobile experience has been locked behind Apple Arcade exclusivity. If Netflix can bring FIFA home, surely the platform can get us back on the hardwood, too.
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