You won't be playing "FIFA 23" next year. The long-running partnership between video game publisher EA Sports and soccer governing body FIFA appears to have come to a rather bitter end.

FIFA released a strongly worded statement this week that seems to confirm that the relationship is over. The statement reads: "FIFA is bullish and optimistic about the long-term future in gaming and esports, following a comprehensive and strategic assessment of the gaming and interactive entertainment market.

FIFA also appears to be open to any form of settlement, stating that "it is clear that this needs to be a space occupied by multiple parties with all rights controlling." This is an obvious dig at EA Sports' FIFA video game series, which has dominated the FIFA name and brand since the 1990s.

If this blow is not enough, FIFA goes one further, ridiculing its former partners, claiming that "technology and mobile companies are now aggressively competing to be associated with FIFA, its platforms, and the global tournament."

EA is perhaps not so devastated by this development. The publisher released the following statement last week: "We are exploring the idea of renaming the global EA Sports soccer games. This would mean revisiting the naming rights agreement with FIFA."

According to various reports, EA has begun exploring the idea of renaming the FIFA video game series. In response, EA trademarked another name, "EA Sports FC," and FIFA apparently saw the writing on the wall.

The dissolution of this long-standing partnership does not mean that EA will exit the soccer game market; EA has licensed official leagues, teams, and players through other agreements, but will lose access to the FIFA name, especially the World Cup license 2022 is a World Cup year, as the global tournament will be held in Qatar next winter.

As of 2021, the FIFA video game series has sold over 325 million copies and has been released every year since 1995. It is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time and a very lucrative venture for both EA and FIFA. If things are not resolved amicably - and that is certainly unlikely - it will be a bit odd not to see FIFA 23 on next year's release calendar. [In our review of FIFA 22, we called it "the best in the history of the series."