How 2026 World Cup, blockbuster movies are bringing old video games back
Major cultural events are giving older video games unexpected second lives. From the 2026 World Cup boosting football games to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey reviving Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, these player surges show how real-world events can extend gaming’s longevity.
Hyderabad: To call EA’s FC 26 disappointing would be an understatement. These days, the once-popular annual franchise barely sputters on as players search for joy in other genres and kinds of play. The step away from sports games is such that it is not just EA that is struggling, but also long-time rivals Konami (makers of PES and now eFootball) and 2K (NBA and WWE). With a steady decline in player numbers year after year and their refusal to engage with the game over the duration of a year, the outlook seemed grim. However, come the 2026 World Cup, things reversed drastically.
The popularity of the once-in-four-years event was such that more people played EA’s FC 26 during the knockout phases of the World Cup than at its launch or in the ever-popular Christmas/New Year window. For someone like me who has stepped away from the franchise almost completely, it was surprising to see that there were both enthusiastic players and creative game modes, as well as content to augment the action from the tournament. FC 26 wasn’t alone in this regard, as eFootball benefited from the World Cup interest as well – suddenly, there were a lot more people playing the sport digitally to go along with the watching of the games. As the World Cup advanced, the popularity of the games continued to spike, and close to the final, both games were recording some of the highest numbers of concurrent players in recent years.
While we can all debate the many reasons for this unexpected success, it is important to note that come World Cup time, both games were free to play and players could simply take them for a spin. In the case of FC 26, it meant a lot of fans and older players of the franchise returned, but for eFootball, it was a lot of first-time players.
Such is the magnitude of success that EA’s FC 26 continues to remain popular in its final month, and EA has somehow found the confidence to price a version of FC 27 (the Ultimate Plus Tier) at USD 150 / INR 13,999. EA’s perennial delusions notwithstanding, there is something here in player patterns that needs to be explored further.
The phenomenon isn’t restricted to sporting games and events alone; it comes to the fore with the launch of Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of the Greek epic Odyssey. The hype surrounding the film and its stellar cast saw a significant rise in player engagement for the Assassin’s Creed game of the same name from 2018. Industry firm Alinea Analytics observed a 90 per cent increase in players on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. In their report, they note how nearly 1,22,000 players played the game on the day the film was released (1.8 times higher than normal) and how the number climbed to 2,33,000 by day 10.
Odyssey isn’t the only beneficiary of this crossover audience, as the success of the just-released Spider-Man: Brand New Day has seen a spike in players for the Insomniac games on PlayStation. While 2023’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 offers players the new suit from the movie as an incentive to return or try the game, the fact that player numbers grow for other older games in the franchise indicates that this is a knock-on effect that is not direct and momentary.
While mapping ongoing events to in-game actions is not necessarily a unique strategy, 2026 seems to be the first time that we are observing such significant patterns, offering game makers, players, and industry experts a reason to pause and a new way of thinking about games’ longevity. There are a lot of ways to sustain interest meaningfully if these windows of time can be anticipated and prepared for, and to ensure players find new avenues of fun in their gaming. After all, we can all do better in the search for value than pricing our game at 14,000 rupees.
