Goal! FIFA 23 scores 10.3M players in first week

EA Sports is busting out its best goal celebrations to mark the record breaking launch of FIFA 23. The soccer — or football — simulator brought in 10.3M players in its first week, the highest ever in franchise history.

These new players translated into massive growth in playtime. In the first 23 days, FIFA 23 accumulated 15.7 billion minutes or just shy of 262 million hours of total playtime. This averages to about 11.4 million hours played per day. Compared to FIFA 22’s first 22 days, this year’s release is averaging 22% more hours played per day in its initial release window.

FIFA 23 has signed deals with additional leagues and clubs to bring additional (exclusive) content to the franchise. In particular, EA Sports has invested in deals with several top women’s leagues such as UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Further, FIFA 23 branded content from Apple TV’s Ted Lasso has been a major hit with fans. EA Sports reports that players have lead AFC Richmond to over 1 million wins to date.

With Electronic Arts and FIFA’s exclusivity deal expiring at the end of 2022, this release still benefits from FIFA’s branding. Next year, EA Sports’ soccer release will be dubbed EA Sports FC. Time will tell if this branding change will impact sales, but investors will likely compare its performance to FIFA 23’s unprecedented success.