From FIFA to FC.
Creating a global TOV.

EA's pinnacle brand prides itself on authenticity above all else, which is why they've trusted Mr. B with in-game copy for almost a decade — including the Voice & Tone Guide update for the biggest rebrand in football gaming history.

Client EA Sports FC
Span Since 2017 · Ongoing
Discipline Copywriting · In-game
Region Global · 22 languages

Floodlit football stadium at dusk — the evocative, authentic atmosphere that EA Sports FC's voice has to live inside. — Football fan culture. You either get it, or you don't. We get it.

The relationship

The franchise that obsesses over authenticity hired the writer who obsesses over football.

EA Sports FC — known for thirty years as FIFA — is one of the most-played entertainment products on earth. Its promise to players has always been the same: authenticity. The feel of the ball. The roar of the crowd. The right phrase, in the right moment, in the right language. Get any of that wrong and the spell breaks.

Which is why, when EA needed copy that wouldn't break it, they came to a writer who'd been embedded in the sport, the genre, and the video game itself (Mr. B first wrote in-game copy for EA for FIFA 17) for years.

The moment of trust

A 30-year-old brand, suddenly renamed. The game's voice was key to its reimagining.

In 2023, after three decades, the FIFA name came off the box. The game became EA Sports FC. New logo, new identity, same global audience that had grown up calling it something different.

Therefore it was essential that the product felt recognisable. To maintain its authoritative and authentic positioning as the bastion of football video games. And to evolve: to show how the brand understands the modern fan, how to talk like and with them.

Mr. B led the Voice & Tone Guide update for the rebrand, defining the game's global narrative style going forward, then auditing and rewriting against it across critical modes and features in FC24, FC25, and FC26. The latest title we've worked on, FC27, ships this autumn.

The remit, in their words

What the client says we actually do.

Blending insider knowledge of football fandom with mastery of game narrative, Mr. B brings a rare ability to speak the language of players. The passion and deep understanding of the sport, the gaming genre, and football culture allow for copy that resonates globally, capturing the energy of the pitch, the nuances of the fan experience, and the authenticity players expect from EA Sports FC.

— Liliia Kujda, Snr. XD Leadership, EA Sports FC

01
Led the Voice & Tone Guide update during the rebrand from FIFA to Football Club, defining the game's global narrative style.
02
Led full-scale audits and rewrites across critical modes and features: elevating clarity, authenticity, and immersion in FC24, FC25, FC26, and now FC27.
03
Partnered with Game Design, Experience Design, Production, and Executive teams to shape year-over-year priorities and strategic creative angles.
04
Balanced aggressive timelines with uncompromising standards for quality and craft.
05
Collaborated with Legal and Localization to ensure voice and nuance translated effectively into 22 languages.

Earlier in the relationship

The officially-authorised book on the franchise. Written by Mr. B in 2015.

Front cover of FIFA Football: The Story Behind The Video Game Sensation, by Lee Price (Bennion Kearny, 2015).

Before the in-game copy, there was the book. In 2015, with EA's support flying our writer to their Vancouver HQ to gather exclusive insights and stories, Mr. B wrote the definitive, authorised history of the franchise: FIFA Football: The Story Behind The Video Game Sensation (Bennion Kearny).

EA's most authenticity-obsessed brand has trusted Mr. B with its story as well as its voice.

Read it on Amazon

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Flash Pack.