Fifa will finally release its much-anticipated return to video games in 2026, several years after its acrimonious split with developer EA.

But it is Netflix, rather than a major game studio, which has secured the rights to the upcoming football game.

Once one of the most profitable brands in gaming history, issues including a costly licence prompted Fifa’s previous publisher Electronic Arts to stop using the name in 2023 – instead naming its best-selling game EA Sports FC.

Netflix said the new Fifa would be developed and published by Delphi Interactive – which has yet to release a video game – and released ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

It said subscribers will be able to play online via the Netflix app on iOS and Android devices – or on select TVs by using their phone as the controller.

EA Sports released the first Fifa game in 1993, and ran the franchise for 30 years until moving away from the branding to create its own.

The series was estimated to have around 150 million players.

But the renamed game still connected with fans – with EA FC 24 being the best-selling game in the UK in 2023.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino said the football governing body was “very excited” to team up with Netflix Games ahead of the World Cup in 2026.

“Our reimagined game truly marks the beginning of a new era of digital football,” he said.

“It will be available for free to Netflix members and is a great historic step for Fifa.”

California-based Delphi Interactive, the studio behind the game, is also working in partnership with IO Interactive on a new James Bond title, 007: First Light.

The firm’s boss Casper Daugaard said as “lifelong Fifa fans” it wanted to make the game “the most fun, approachable, and global football game ever created”.

Reaction to the announcement has so far been mixed, with some fans questioning whether the mobile-first focus from Netflix was the way forward for the franchise.

“FIFA should never have left EA,” said one person on social media site X.

“Let’s see what the new game’s got.”