UK has always been a strong market for Nintendo portable systems and Fifa is big here. Sometimes the people who buy systems can be different, younger compared to other markets. I have only ever bought Fifa from the bargain bins often just at pence rather than pounds. It's a franchise where the value of the game seems to drop hugely as the year goes on until next year's version comes out. Buy a Fifa 2 years old and they are practically giving it away.
It's going to be interesting to see if portability makes third party support more robust and viable. It looks like the same as wii u currently in that it needs to be the right type of game, Lego Worlds for example to sell well on Switch. EA may just need to be more selective what they bring to Switch rather than abandon supporting it.
We will get a better picture when we see how Doom, Wolfenstein and even Skyrim sell on the system worldwide on Switch. Definitely looking a bit similar to wii u despite the portability feature though.
I bought my wii u mainly for Nintendo games and most third party games were a bit crap compared to other formats due to the weak hardware. I mainly enjoyed my wii u because of first party games and was often unimpressed with third party games which played badly on the system, missing features, low frame rates, slow loading, inferior controller etc. In the end I only really bought them because they were massively discounted because they sold so badly and even then I often regretted buying them and left them to play other versions.
I'm sure there are many that think the same and just want Switch exclusive games or games that really work well with the hardware. There are lots of features of Switch the ps4 and xbone don't have and games need to play to those strengths be it hd feedback, enhanced motion controls, portability, touch screen, portable gaming for 2 or more players.
It may be that Fifa genuinely couldn't run the same engine as ps4 or xbone on Switch but it seems more like lack of ambition from the start. I never bought it but I remember the wii u version was pretty awful as was the basketball game I believe. Both horribly compromised on wii u if I remember rightly with no attempt to run the same engine as ps3 and 360. I think NBA was better on wii u as a port but still had choppy frame rates.
Perhaps Switch owners remember EA's wii u efforts previously.
Essay Pro