Over the years, Beats, which is owned by Apple, has released its headphones and earbuds in a variety of new colors to help freshen them up over their extended product cycles. But for the first time it’s entered the video gaming world with a new partnership with EA Sports’ FC 24, this year’s game in the highly popular soccer franchise — or football as it’s known throughout most of the world — that until this year carried FIFA branding.
Beats says that users who buy and play FC 24 by Nov. 1 will earn Founder status and receive in-game rewards including a permanent Erling Haaland item in Ultimate Team, as well as a custom pair of digital Haaland-inspired Beats Studio Pro Viking headphones for your character to wear in Volta Football, the street-style mode that has players competing on small pitches. Haaland is a star striker and Beats brand ambassador who plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League. The fearsome Norwegian is on the cover of the standard edition of the game.
I can’t say I found the Viking design of the headphone all that eye-catching. It’s a black and white affair with “Viking” splayed across the headband. But perhaps in time we’ll see different versions of it with a little more color.
Beats notes that coming in December in FC 24’s Player Career mode, players will be able to purchase virtual Beats headphones with their in-game salaries to earn Personality Points that elevate their performance in-game. “Further along in their career, players can also become a Beats Ambassador for additional salary and in-game PlayStyles benefits,” Beats says, and “in Manager Career mode, players will be able to assign Beats inspired kits to their custom created clubs.”
Alas, you can’t buy a real-life physical version of the Haaland Viking Beats Studio Pro. The headphones, which launched back in July, come in brown, black, navy and sandstone. They list for $350, but were recently on sale at Amazon for October Prime day for $180 (look for the same deal as we head into Black Friday next month). Read our Beats Studio Pro review here.
