The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) said on Tuesday they signed a deal with the Electronic Arts game publishing company which will allow Croatia's national team to be featured in the upcoming EA Sports FIFA 23 video game.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

This will mark a return of Croatia to the best-selling digital football series after more than a decade, as the officially licensed Croatia team has not been included in annual FIFA game installments since 2012. The upcoming FIFA 23, slated for release in September, will be the last game under the FIFA franchise, after Electronic Arts ended their decades-long partnership with football’s top governing body.

“We are extremely pleased that we have reached a deal with EA Sports to include the Croatian national football team in the FIFA 23 video game. We know that players around the world, and especially Croatia’s fans, have wanted this for years and I’m glad that they will now be able to play FIFA with their favourite team, in the most beautiful jersey in the world,” said president of HNS, Marijan Kustic.

Electronic Arts said this made HNS one of 300 individual licensed partners in the video game which offers 19,000 licensed real-world football players in 700 teams, playable at 100 stadiums and 30 leagues from all over the world. In addition to the best clubs and national teams, players can also choose some of the most famous competitions in the world, such as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, the Spanish LaLiga Santander, South America’s Copa Libertadores, and others.