PlayStation tried to make FIFA games
The world could have been very different if the console maker hadn't decided to settle with This is Football.
Electronic Arts' FIFA games were - and still are in the form of EA Sports FC - one of the world's most known and best-selling franchises. We've seen multiple competitors come and go through the years, but most of them have vanished into thin air because of less satisfying gameplay, worse graphics, and/or not having real players, stadiums, and such in them. That last part makes today's story especially interesting.
The Game Business' Christopher Dring had the opportunity to talk with Juan Montes, the VP of Software development at PlayStation from 1994 - 2000, and the latter revealed that the console maker had tried getting the FIFA licence back then:
"The technology was there, it was pretty good, and we were very close to getting the FIFA licence. Very, very close.
"But in the end, we decided not to pursue it [in order to have] a good relationship with a third-party. But we were very close to being in that space."
They did instead settle with getting endorsed by FIFPRo, which meant that Sony Computer Entertainment's This is Football and This is Football 2 at least had a few real players and stadiums.
An interesting detail. Do you think PlayStation could have changed history by making FIFA football games?
