EA/KonamiFIFA and PES have been fierce rivals since the dawn of time…. or the mid 90s – who can really say? The point is that the two franchises have long competed for the affections (and money) of football fans.
In a recent move, Konami has dealt EA what many consider to be a fairly major blow, as PES 2020 has bagged an exclusive “long-term” deal to feature Italian champions Juventus. This means, of course, that FIFA 20 won’t feature the popular team at all.
As part of the partnership, the @officialpes development team have been granted exclusive, in-depth access to the Juventus first team squad to recreate their likenesses as accurately as possible for #eFootballPES2020. pic.twitter.com/msqpnS5oCP
— Konami UK (@KonamiUK) July 16, 2019
Konami has revealed that the partnership nets PES 2020 exclusive use of Juve’s “team name, crest, and official kits” in console football video games, as well as use of Allianz Stadium for the next three years. Juventus star Miralem Pjanic will also become an ambassador for the game.
While it’s currently unclear whether this means games like Football Manager will still be able to include the club, it’s entirely clear that FIFA will just have to make do without Juventus this year. EA has already confirmed that it’s planning to feature an unlicensed version of the club instead, though stressed that past versions of FIFA will remain unaffected by Konami’s deal.
EA said in a statement:
Piemonte Calcio will be a new playable team in FIFA 20 with a custom badge and kit throughout Kick-Off, Career Mode, and Volta. Piemonte Calcio will use real-world, authentic players in FIFA 20 and FIFA 20 Ultimate Team. Piemonte Calcio players’ Chemistry within FIFA 20 Ultimate Team is unaffected by these changes.
While I’m sure there are those who won’t be fussed about using Piemonte Calcio instead of Juventus in FIFA 20, I imagine there are some more devoted fans who see this compromise of the equivalent of their mum telling them they’ve got ice cream at home before finding out the only thing in the freezer is a 20p Tesco Value choc ice.
EAAt any rate, the publisher went on to confirm that while Juve’s official name, kits, and badge won’t be appearing in FIFA 20, we’ll still see the club’s players depicted in-game.
This is because their likenesses fall under the football union, FIFPro, and not their individual clubs or leagues, although Konami will be getting “accurate” recreations of the players for PES 2020 via full-body 3D scans.
PES 2020 also has official (though non-exclusive) partnerships with Manchester United, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich. These deals won’t have any impact on FIFA 20, however.
KonamiPES 2020 hits PS4, Xbox One, and PC on September 10, while FIFA 20 arrives on the same platforms September 27. Which one will you buy? I don’t actually care, so keep the answer to yourself, yeah? Yeah.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.