FIFA 21: Meet Andrew Anthony, iconic voice of ‘EA Sports, it’s in the game’ who video game fans have loved for 28 years
YOU probably won’t recognise the name Andrew Anthony and you most-likely won’t have seen his face.
But I promise you, you’ll know the voice.
“E. A. Sports. It’s in the game.”
Whether you’re an avid FIFA fan or not, you WILL have heard that iconic catch-line.
For many it’s the soundtrack to their childhood.
Wake up, fire up the console and hear those iconic words as your TV roars to life.
You will have heard it hundreds, if not thousands of times in your life.
And that voice – so intrinsically linked with happiness for gaming lovers – belongs to Canadian voice-over artist Andrew Anthony.
That’s right, despite a spate of rumours down the years, that voice – that legendary voice – is NOT artificial.
From FIFA and Madden to UFC and NBA, Anthony’s voice is everywhere these days.
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And EA Sports have been loyal to him too, using it for nearly 30 years.
Incredibly, though, it was not by design – but a complete fluke, according to Anthony.
The Canadian once revealed: “It was the early ’90s – maybe 1992, 1993…
“I had a friend in the advertising business who was approached by the Electronic Arts people.
“They had just seven employees at the time and they asked if he could do a commercial for them.
“His initial response was ‘no, I don’t know who you are’.
“But they convinced him and he came up with this whole line.
“It was originally ‘if it’s in the game, EA Sports, it’s in the game’.
“And he called me up in Toronto and said ‘hey will you do this thing… for free?’
“I said ‘yeah, of course I will! I don’t even know what this is but I get a free trip down to see you, so for sure’.
“I recorded it and thought I would never, ever hear anything about it again.
“And now it’s this mega-brand. Pretty cool.”
Anthony beat around a dozen other people to the gig – but didn’t even realise until much later.
Amazingly, he only found out after his son’s friend came over with a new video game and he overheard his voice.
Many of us reckon we can do a pretty spot-on impression of the iconic ‘E. A. Sports, it’s in the game’ line.
But let’s be real. We can’t. Yet.
Anthony has released a TUTORIAL where he reveals how best to nail the line.
In it, he explains: “First and probably most important is volume. ‘E. A. Sports’ is not something to be delivered lightly.
“It is firm. It is aggressive. It is your guts hurling through the air as you growl like a hungry dog on a T-bone.”
Anthony then goes on to angrily reveal the perfect inflection for the line before stating the importance of ‘attitude’.
The tutorial continues: “This is a company that kicks a**e. It takes no prisoners. It offers no apologies.
“There is a swagger and it is attitude that makes this line sing.”
Outside of EA Sports, Anthony is a voice actor in North America.
He is famous across the pond for lending his voice to a host of advertising campaigns.
But let’s be honest, nothing will ever quite compare to: “E. A. Sports. It’s in the game.”