Talk about a game of two halves.
In May 2022, EA blew the whistle on its long-running deal with world football governing body FIFA. The publisher’s execs had long grumbled that they were paying a huge royalty and had done more than anyone to grow the FIFA brand to where it is today, and so the decision was made to drop the FIFA brand and become EA Sports FC.
FIFA took the news with all the grace of a piano thrown down an elevator shaft, with president Gianni Infantino spluttering that it didn’t need EA anyway, and whichever game FIFA endorsed would be “the best”. Since then things have not gone well, with FIFA’s subsequent offerings including Roblox experiences and some frankly embarrassing World Cup web 3.0 games. It clearly wasn’t prepared for the end with EA, and had no ready replacement for the incredibly well-resourced and talented EA Sports developers.
I always felt there was one obvious option FIFA wasn’t exploring, and finally someone over there has woken up to it. FIFA and Konami have announced an esports collaboration agreement for the FIFAe World Cup, which will see the tournament played later this year on eFootball, Konami’s less popular EA Sports FC competitor, with qualifying beginning today. There will be two competitions held across console and mobile but, incredibly, no tournament on PC.
The setup is a little confusing. The FIFAe World Cup will feature 18 nations, including traditional footballing powerhouses like Argentina, Brazil, France and yes OK England, which have been selected through “different factors such as player base and previous performances of competitors from the respective countries.” But anyone playing eFootball can enter, just be aware you may end up representing Costa Rica.
The bigger news, however, is this is just the beginnings of a closer relationship between FIFA and Konami, a pairing that would have been unimaginable a mere decade ago. It may seem like the distant past now, but eFootball’s predecessor Pro Evolution Soccer is the only game that could ever have been considered second fiddle to EA’s FIFA games. It was always outsold by FIFA but, in the 2000s especially, PES was undeniably the superior game. eFootball has had its teething problems, but it is the only realistic competition to EA Sports FC and, arguably, the one thing that could help it against the EA juggernaut is the biggest and shiniest football branding in the world.
Which, to be crystal clear, it doesn’t have yet. The FIFAe World Cup is being held in eFootball, but the game isn’t becoming “FIFAeFootball” for now. But if that isn’t where the two companies are eventually heading with this I’d be amazed, because each side has exactly what the other needs.
“At Konami we have continued to take on challenges in the development of football simulation and esports,” said senior executive officer Koji Kobayashi. “We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the promotion of eFootball in a new dimension through this collaboration with FIFAe. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to FIFA for providing us with this opportunity.”
Interestingly enough, the press material has a boatload of comments from national associations, who all seem fully on-board with the idea (or are just glad it’s not being held in Roblox). And Konami has been quietly making strides in eFootball tournaments, hosting the Championship 2024 Club Event this year with European clubs, as well as the eJLeague in collaboration with the JLeague: So at the very least, this should run smoothly.
“We are incredibly excited to join forces with Konami,” says FIFA’s Romy Gai. “This collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission to promote football globally and to provide a platform for players to showcase their skills.”
Well, it hasn’t happened and may never, but I now wonder whether in my lifetime I’ll see a Konami football game with FIFA branding. EA’s FIFA had a real turning point in quality around 2009 and that, combined with the authority and reach of the FIFA brand, felt like it finally finished-off good old PES. Konami did have the guts to reimagine its series and come back with eFootball but, so far, it’s been a struggle. Whether this is the beginning of a larger collaboration remains to be seen, but it does remind one of an old adage: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
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