FIFA 21
GameBy EA Vancouver · Released Oct 9, 2020
Documents about FIFA 21
Sports Games with EA Sports FC 26 on Live Streaming
The analysis examines the evolving role of live streaming and creator partnerships in promoting sports games, focusing on the launches of EA Sports FC 26 and Skate 4.
- EA Sports FC 26 generated 23 million hours watched during its debut week, maintaining a 138,000 average concurrent viewership and peaking at 443,000 concurrent viewers.
- The EA Sports football franchise remains a dominant streaming force despite losing the FIFA branding, with EA Sports FC 24 recording 36.2 million hours watched at launch.
- Creator-led strategies are essential for sports game launches, evidenced by German and English-speaking streamers like eliasn97 (3.3 million hours watched) and DjMaRiiO (1.2 million hours watched) driving FC 26 engagement.
Top PlayStation 5 Games on Streaming: Sony’s Most Profitable Console
This analysis examines the top PlayStation 5 games based on live-streaming performance, providing insights into the console's audience preferences and market positioning.
- The PlayStation 5 has become Sony’s most profitable console to date, generating $106 billion in lifetime revenue with 118 million monthly active users.
- Shooter titles dominate PS5 streaming performance, with the top five most-watched games on the platform—led by GTA V with 9.7 billion hours—all belonging to the shooter genre.
- Live-service games significantly outperform single-player, story-driven RPGs in live-streaming viewership, highlighting a strong community preference for competitive, multiplayer experiences.
Old Games, FIFA and Switch Dominated Europe in 2021: European Market Report
European game sales in 2021 were dominated by established titles and Nintendo hardware, according to GSD data covering physical and digital sales across the continent.
- Over 170 million games were sold in Europe in 2021, a 9.5% drop from 2020, but a 12.3% increase compared to 2019.
- FIFA 22 was the top-selling game in Europe in 2021, selling almost double the second-place title, Grand Theft Auto 5.
- The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in Europe in 2021, with sales declining only 6% from 2020, while PS5 and Xbox Series X/S sales were limited by stock shortages.
36 Million Games and 3.4 Million Consoles Sold in the UK in 2021: UK Annual Report
The UK games market in 2021 saw 35.8 million digital and physical games, 3.36 million consoles and 10.6 million accessories sold, based on GSD software data and GfK hardware and accessories data.
- In 2021, the UK sold 35.8 million games, 3.36 million consoles, and 10.6 million accessories.
- The Nintendo Switch was the UK's best-selling console in 2021, surpassing the PlayStation 5 in the final weeks of the year, with console sales overall up 14% compared to 2020.
- Game software sales declined by 16% in 2021 compared to 2020, but were up 38% compared to 2019, with 20.5 million digital games and 15.3 million physical games sold.
China’s Grey Market Identity Crisis: JD.com Stops Selling Unlicensed Games
JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce platform, announced in September 2021 that it would stop selling unlicensed "grey market" video games, with up to 86 titles slated for removal, including Super Mario Maker 2, FIFA 21, The Last of Us Part 2, and the entire Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto series.
- JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce platform, has banned the sale of 86 unlicensed video games, including major titles like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, to comply with national regulations regarding content such as violence and political themes.
- Steam wishlist conversion rates have dropped significantly, with games released between 2023 and 2025 selling an average of 0.22 copies per wishlist in their debut month, compared to 0.45 copies for games released between 2020 and 2022.
- By the end of their debut year, games released in the 2023–2025 period achieved a conversion rate of approximately 0.7 copies per wishlist, down from 0.99 copies for the 2020–2022 cohort.
PlayStation, Xbox, Mario and FIFA Dominate EMEAA Games Markets in H1 2021
GSD market tracking data for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and parts of Asia shows 2.7 million consoles, 8.2 million accessories and 82 million video games sold in the first half of 2021.
- EMEAA console sales increased by 4% in H1 2021 compared to H1 2020, driven by PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, which collectively represent 53% of sales (up from 40% in H1 2020).
- Nintendo Switch sales decreased by over 26% in H1 2021 compared to H1 2020, but are up almost 38% compared to H1 2019, and it remains the best-selling console in tracked European markets for H1 2021.
- EMEAA video game software sales dropped by 22% in H1 2021 compared to H1 2020, but are up 5.6% compared to H1 2019, with 82 million games sold.
Hackers Only Needed $10 and Cookies to Hack Electronic Arts and Steal 780 GB of Data
Electronic Arts suffered a major breach on June 10, 2021, in which hackers stole roughly 780 GB of data, including the source code for FIFA 21, the Frostbite engine, internal development tools, and the company's matchmaking server.
- Hackers stole 780 GB of data from Electronic Arts on June 10, 2021, including source code for FIFA 21, the Frostbite engine, and internal matchmaking server tools.
- The breach was initiated by purchasing stolen session cookies for $10, which granted the attackers access to EA’s corporate Slack channel.
- Attackers bypassed security by social engineering the company's support team, claiming they had lost their phone to obtain a new multifactor authentication token.
Electronic Arts Fiscal Year 2021 Financial Results
Electronic Arts' fiscal year 2021, which ended March 31, 2021, showed flat headline growth masking a continued shift toward live services.
- Electronic Arts reported $5.62 billion in net revenue for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, representing a modest 1.6% year-over-year increase.
- Live services, including subscriptions and titles like Apex Legends, generated $4 billion in revenue, now accounting for 71% of the company's total income.
- Net income fell 263% year-over-year to $837 million, primarily due to the absence of one-time tax benefits that occurred in the previous fiscal period.
News Mash-Up: Week 17 2021
A quiet start to 2021 for new game releases is not cause for alarm, according to Sparkers' Week 17 news roundup covering European physical and digital sales through the first 16 weeks of the year.
- Video game investment in Q1 2021 reached $25 billion through acquisitions, IPOs, and direct investments, marking a 150% increase over the same period in 2020.
- While new game releases have slowed in 2021, total unit sales (physical and network combined) remain 12% higher than in 2019 and 25% higher than in 2018, driven by strong back-catalogue demand.
- Microsoft reported Q1 2021 Xbox revenue of $3.5 billion, a 50% year-over-year increase, with hardware spending surging by 232% and content spending rising by 34%.
Nova Drift: The Making of a Steam Holiday 'Sleeper' Hit
Pixeljam's Nova Drift, an arcade space combat roguelite described as Geometry Wars meets Asteroids with procedurally generated runs, became a Steam holiday sleeper hit in winter 2020-21 after nearly two years in Early Access.
- Nova Drift experienced a significant sales surge during the 2020 holiday season, with daily unit sales rising from a 10–50 baseline to 100–500 units.
- The game’s visibility was driven by a positive feedback loop where a 98% approval rating across 2,000+ reviews triggered Steam algorithm recommendations within the indie roguelike category.
- Sustained growth was supported by inclusion in the Steam Winter Sale, which acted as a catalyst for increased exposure within the space genre.
The Future is Digital - Right?
Despite years of predictions that games are headed toward an all-digital future, physical media remains more resilient than commonly assumed, particularly in the UK console market.
- Despite the industry shift toward digital, over 75% of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S sales in the UK were for disc-based consoles, indicating strong consumer demand for physical media options.
- Physical game sales remain significant during the holiday quarter, accounting for 57% of units and 60% of sales value in Q4 2019, suggesting the format holds up well during peak retail periods.
- Cloud gaming is projected to grow significantly, with Omdia predicting revenues will rise 188% to $4 billion in 2021 and reach $12 billion by 2025.
Who's Playing What on PlayStation 5?
Early PlayStation 5 playtime data from the PS Time Tracker site, which uses a PSN friend bot to log the games players run, anchors this December 2020 edition of the GameDiscoverCo newsletter.
- Long-standing titles like FIFA 21, Destiny 2, and Fortnite remain primary drivers of PS5 engagement, rivaling the impact of new platform exclusives.
- Early PS5 engagement analysis, based on a sample of 3,018 active users tracked via PS Time Tracker, shows that new releases like Cyberpunk 2077 and the Demon’s Souls remake dominate initial interest.
- Cross-generational support for frequently updated titles is a critical factor in maintaining console activity levels.