May 7 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has added EA Sports FC to its growing commercial portfolio for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027, confirming the gaming franchise as an Official Licensed Product of the tournament.
The agreement will see the Asian Cup integrated into EAFC, with further details on in-game content and activations expected later this year and likely to appear in FC27, which is expected to be released around the end of September.
The move will give the competition far greater visibility within one of football’s largest digital ecosystems as the AFC looks to expand the tournament’s global reach ahead of kick-off in January 2027. With the game franchise extremely popular in Europe and North America, it will be a useful tool for exposure into regions otherwise isolated from the Asian Cup rollout.
The deal comes after AFC announced Aramco as an Official Global Supporter earlier this week, with the confederation continuing to build out its commercial programme for the competition.
While framed as a landmark licensing agreement, the partnership also reflects wider changes around EA itself. In 2025, the publisher agreed to a $55 billion takeover led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), leaving the Kingdom with a controlling stake in one of the gaming industry’s biggest companies. Against that backdrop, a formal tie-up between EAFC and the Saudi-hosted event had increasingly felt inevitable.
AFC general secretary Datuk Seri Windsor John said: “The AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 represents the best of men’s national team football on the Continent, and we are delighted to welcome EA SPORTS FC as an Official Licensed Product in what marks a truly significant milestone for the Confederation.
“This partnership underlines the AFC’s commitment to embracing innovation and engaging new generations of fans by bringing Asia’s crown jewel into the digital ecosystem.”
Jamie McKinlay, senior vice president of Asia Publishing at Electronic Arts, added: “We’re proud to partner with the AFC to bring the AFC Asian Cup 2027 to life in EA SPORTS FC. Asia is home to some of the most passionate and fast-growing football communities in the world, and this collaboration reflects our ambition to celebrate that energy on a global stage.”
The 2027 tournament will feature 24 national teams competing across eight stadiums in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar between January 7 and February 5.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]
