FIFA 23 Has Been Delisted On All Platforms Except EA Play

26.09.2023 - 18:47 / thegamer.com

FIFA 23 has been delisted on all storefronts, now only available to pick up through an EA Play subscription. This comes before its replacement, EA Sports FC 24, even launches, now only available in early access.

No explanation has been given for the sudden takedown, but it's likely tied to EA losing the FIFA licence. Now, its annual sports games will be released under its own banner, EA Sports FC, but still provide the same kind of gameplay. However, the delisting of FIFA 23 comes without warning, and less than a year after the game launched. It follows on from previous FIFA games also being removed from online storefronts, perhaps in a bid to move the playerbase over to its news branding.

Related: EA Sports FC 24 Is Pushing Me Away Already

This development was first spotted by ResetEra user RobbRivers, who tried to purchase FIFA 23 on Steam to no avail. The store page is still live, but there's no option to purchase the game, and it instead advertises subscriptions to EA Play.

"Notice: At the request of the publisher, EA SPORTS FIFA 23 is unlisted on the Steam store and will not appear in search," reads a warning on the FIFA 23 Steam page. According to SteamDB, the change was made five days ago, on September 21. This would have been just hours before EA Sports FC 24 became available to anyone eligible for early access, so it's likely in aid of keeping the attention on the new game.

While in the case of FIFA, this move is hardly likely to prove controversial (many players quickly flock to the latest game, after all, and there's little incentive to pick up an older version), it goes to show how quickly games can be lost online.

EA is no stranger to suddenly delisting games too. Earlier this year, Battlefield 1943 and Bad Company 1 & 2 were taken offline from all storefronts, no longer available for purchase. This means that if you want to play them without turning to piracy, you'll have to find old physical copies, likely for inflated prices once they become rare enough. Many were scared that Mirror's Edge would be included too, as it was previously on the list of games that would be axed by EA. Thankfully, it was later removed and is still available to buy digitally or pick up on EA Play.

It remains to be seen if older FIFA games are preserved somehow, but given how similar they'll be to EA Sports FC, it's more likely that they'll be nuked completely. As for now, FIFA 23 can still be found on EA Play.

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