Pelé, Hamm, Beckham, Zidane Among Legends on EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Edition Cover

EA Sports revealed the cover of its ultimate edition for FC 24, featuring legends like Pelé, Mia Hamm, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Johan Cruyff to go along with modern superstars like Erling Haaland, Vinícius Jr. and Bukayo Saka.

EA Sports also dropped its announcement trailer on Monday:

This year's edition of EA Sports' annual footy game will be the first without "FIFA" in the title after the gaming publisher and organizing body parted ways.

Reuters reported in May 2022 that "EA made a 'significant offer' to FIFA for an eight-year exclusivity period across all of FIFA's gaming and esports rights, but the soccer body was unwilling to lock up all of its gaming and efootball rights with just one publisher."

FIFA was also reportedly seeking to double the $150 million EA Sports paid per year for those licensing rights.

The split meant that FIFA 23 was the final football game from EA Sports in partnership with FIFA.

It was the end of a lucrative relationship, with the FIFA franchise reportedly earning more than $20 billion in sales across two decades.

EA still has a number of key licensing partners, however, including the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and UEFA, among others. So while events like the World Cup will no longer be included in the game, competitions like the Champions League will remain, along with the biggest stars and clubs in the sport.

As for whether the game will feature substantial changes to the general formula EA Sports has rolled out for its footy franchise in recent years, that remains to be seen and likely will be announced as the traditional late September release date draws nearer.

It's the beginning of a new era for the franchise, at least on the cover.