Old rivals are looking to unite: World football association FIFA and Japanese gaming company Konami have signed an e-sports agreement. The upcoming FIFA World Cup will be played in Konami’s Free2Play football simulation “eFootball”, the two contractual partners announced.
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“We are very pleased to join forces with Konami,” said FIFA Manager Romy Guy. “This collaboration fits perfectly with our mission to promote football around the world and provide a platform for players to showcase their skills.” Konami talks about a “new dimension” in e-sports promotion with “eFootball”.
This deal is particularly interesting because FIFA, in conjunction with Electronic Arts, once forced Konami’s “Pro Evolution Soccer” series out of the market. For decades, the name “FIFA” in the video game field was closely associated with EA’s series of football games of the same name. From 2023, EA’s football games are to be called “EA Sports FC” – the American publisher no longer wanted to extend the contract with FIFA. At the time, EA justified the move, among other things, with the possibility of greater development freedom, which was restricted by FIFA as a contractual partner for football games. The new platform, which is independent from FIFA, offers greater opportunities for innovation.
FIFA is looking for a new development partner
Since then, FIFA has become subtly angry and is looking for a new partner for video game development. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said many times that there is a need to develop a new game called “FIFA”, which will definitely be the best football simulation.
The partnership with Konami does not go that far, as it is limited to hosting e-sports tournaments only. This does not mean that Konami is no longer working on “FIFA” games. Instead, the agreement between Konami and FIFA should be seen as a small interim step – or as an admission on FIFA’s part that the promises of an entirely new “FIFA” game won’t be fulfilled so quickly.
Real competition only with license
Actually, the number of game companies making such games is very less. Konami itself has experience with soccer games and the technical base, but has long since ended its “Pro Evolution Soccer” series in favor of the short-lived free2play game “eFootball.” “eFootball” only has a few game modes and Konami doesn’t have the budget for a licensing duel with EA. FIFA itself will bring only a few licenses.
So fans have hope from 2K Games, which is the only game company that also specializes in sports games. But 2K boss Strauss Zelnick tempered expectations somewhat at a recent investor meeting, saying that That a new football video game must overcome many obstacles – On top of that, once again the complex licensing situation. At least they didn’t completely dismiss the “FIFA” game from 2K.
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