This was yet another example of savvy marketing from EA Sports, using their expensively assembled licenses to drive sales and exert their dominance in the market. It wasn’t until the following year, with the release of FIFA: Road to World Cup 98, that the cover star started to become more obvious - that edition kept Ginola for the French version but also boasted David Beckham (UK), Raul (Spain), Paolo Maldini (Italy) and Andreas Möller (Germany).
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FIFA 96, for instance, saw Frank de Boer joined by Jason McAteer - the newly signed Liverpool midfielder, seemingly only chosen as he happened to appear alongside reigning Champions League winner de Boer in an international clash between Holland and Ireland.įIFA 97 featured Newcastle’s French winger David Ginola in full flow on their European cover art, while the rest of the world were treated to ageing Brazil star Bebeto.
The gaming market is very interesting as, unlike other industries, such as music, for example, the physical product cannot be pirated or shared illegally therefore, the physical product is sold in droves - with the player’s image walking into millions of people’s homes.īack in the early years, though, it took a while for that status to be realised. His image on the cover, in a World Cup year, would have shown a whole raft of potential sponsors and brands that he had everything in terms of marketability.īeing on the cover certainly shows to other brands the individual footballer in question has a very marketable presence which, if harnessed correctly, can generate a huge amount of revenue for the player. There is no doubt that would have been another piece in the puzzle which led Beckham to be,Īrguably, the most marketable footballer on the planet. In 1998, EA used an image of David Beckham on the FIFA cover. The American version again featured Alexi Lalas (replete with a magnificent beard and stylish hairband), seemingly the only recognisable soccer star in the States – helped by a sterling World Cup showing on home soil, which was, for many local viewers, a first taste of the sport. Norway’s World Cup squad - a slightly bemusing choice to the modern fan. In turn, the Goldstar 3DO release showed the US team’s poster-boy, Alexi Lalas, winning a header against Norway, while the game itself boasted an array of improvements, including a rotating camera effect and enhanced graphics.įIFA Soccer 95’s UK cover featured Tottenham goalkeeper Erik Thorstvedt, a member Another version, for the later release on the SNES, showed Platt’s Dutch Sampdoria teammate, Ruud Gullit, being beaten to a cross by Irish keeper Packie Bonner. Winners Juventus to Italian rivals Sampdoria, and he was chosen as FIFA’s first-ever cover star, in a photo showing him taking on Polish midfielder Piotr Swierczewski. Mr Reliable, the playmaker had just completed a 5.2 million move from UEFA Cup Man they chose to lead the charge for the maiden title? David Platt. EA’s timing in targeting the European market was impeccable. FIFA’s success was part of a ground-breaking time in video games.
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