Why Man City superstar Erling Haaland was the perfect cover star for EA Sports FC 24

Before the name change, the FIFA video game featured many of the greatest players from the past twenty-plus years of football, from David Platt in 1993 to Ronaldinho and Wayne Rooney between FIFA '06 and FIFA '09, to the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi years of FIFA '13 to FIFA '19.

Back then, covers helped to sell games, with bricks-and-mortar retail being the only way to buy new releases, especially in the early days. Now, while covers have a role, it's less about helping to catch the eye on a store shelf and more about making a statement. This has never been more true than with FC 24.

FC 24 is the first game from EA Sports to feature Erling Haaland on the cover, replacing Kylian Mbappe and Sam Kerr from last year. But while Haaland is an elite name in football, is having that on the cover still necessary?

Salmon told the Footballco Business Podcast: "Erling Haaland represents the future of football and embodies a huge amount of the values that we would like to think hold very true to what EA Sports FC 24 stands for. He's off the back of a historic treble; Manchester City going out there and having an incredible season. And over the last 12 months, I'd argue he's probably been the best player on the planet."

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While Haaland seems like the cover athlete version of a no-brainer, getting the cover for FC 24 right was more important than in previous years, following the most written-about split from FIFA and the series' renaming to EA Sports FC.

Salmon said that their research showed that three things were of paramount importance to their fans: authenticity, innovation and purpose. The cover was key to conveying that hasn't been lost with the removal of the FIFA name.

"Authenticity is all of that IP that fans have known to expect to be in our ecosystem," he added. "The 19,000 players, 700 clubs, 30-plus leagues and federations all of that licensing prowess would exist within our ecosystem. The cover is one demonstration of that. Haaland is on the cover on a UEFA Champions League match night wearing a Manchester City kit."

For more on the creation of the FC 24 cover designs, including the Ultimate Edition’s ensemble cover, as well as the FC Futures project and the importance of growing the women’s game, check out the full show below or click here.