Rivals EA Sports and Konami join forces to create new efootball esport game
- Published
There's going to be a new efootball game in town, and it's coming from a very unlikely partnership.
EA Sports, who used to make the Fifa games, has paired up with long-time rivals Konami, who used to make Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), to create a new football simulator.
However, it won't be available for general release - it's being created for e-athletes to compete against each other on at the FIFAe World Cup.
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It's come as a surprise to the gaming world as EA Sports and Konami haven't always had the best relationship.
EA Sport's huge hit game Fifa had deals with some of the biggest football leagues in the world, such as England's Premier League and La Liga in Spain.
These deals meant they had exclusive rights to the visual likenesses of the players to use in their games.
Konami on the other hand would then only have the rights to smaller leagues for their football sims.
However, in 2022, EA Sports dropped their contract with Fifa, as reportedly it was too expensive for them to renew.
Since, they've created a new efootball game called EA Sports FC, launched in 2023.
And Konami renamed their PES franchise to eFootball after the COVID pandemic, and made it free to play.
Now, the two historical rivals will be creating a new game for the big esports competition, the FIFAe World Cup.
In previous years, it was EA Sport's Fifa games that were used.
The new game will have competitions for both console and mobile players.
Console competitions will be 2v2, and mobile matches will be 1v1.
Konami said in a press release: "The objective of this collaboration is to further boost the joy of the global football community through esports."
Fifa also expressed enthusiasm for the new collaboration.
Romy Gai, Chief Business Officer at Fifa, said: "We are incredibly excited to join forces with Konami.
"This collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission to promote football globally and to provide a platform for players to showcase their skills."
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