FIFA's 2022 split with EA Sports was a momentous development in recent video game history, as it meant the end of the iconic FIFA series that dazzled gamers since the 1990s.
FIFA 23 was the final version of the game after EA Sports and FIFA's acrimonious split which came about after global football's governing body reportedly hiked up their licensing costs to double the $150million they that the developer paid to use their brand name.
That led to the EA Sports launching EA Sports FC 24 last year, with the updated EA Sports FC 25 which FourFourTwo reviewed here released last month, which quickly topped the UK sales charts. But FIFA now look ready to step up their plans for a rival title.
FIFA to partner with Konami
FIFA have now announced a collaboration with video game producers Konami, which will see them provide a game for the FIFAe World Cup eSports tournament.
Konami's eFootball game, which was formally known as Pro Evolution Soccer, will be used for the tournament which begins with qualifying this month.
The offline tournament will see participants from 18 countries across the world do battle, with the Console Category featuring a 2v2 match and a 1v1 Mobile Category.
Konami and FIFA issued a joint statement confirming the news: “The objective of this collaboration is to further boost the joy of the global football community through esports,” they wrote.
“By allowing players to represent their nations through dedicated competitions, this initiative will take the connection with the community to a new level.”
Since splitting with EA Sports FIFA has claimed that they are planning to launch a new game to rival EA Sports FC, but their tie-in with Konami does not yet stretch to a new game being released, as this just covers the use of Konami's eFootball game for this tournament.
The eFootball game's predecessor PES was a key game in the development of football games, with its tactical and faster matchplay making it hugely popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A rivalry with the FIFA series soon emerged, with EA Sports' offering pulling away in terms of sales figures during the 2010s.
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A significant part of FIFA's success came due to the number of licences that EA Sports were able to acquire, meaning they were able to use real team and player names, whereas PES had to improvise.
That meant gamers took charge of teams such as Merseyside Reds (Liverpool), Man Blue (Manchester City), London FC (Chelsea) and Tyneside (Newcastle). There were also some very random names including Dublin (Aston Villa, presumably due to Dion Dublin playing for the club at the time) and Lake District (West Ham - we have no idea why) and Rekordmeister (Bayern Munich, as that name translates as 'record champions').
