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Former rivals Konami and FIFA announce an esports deal for the FIFAe World Cup on mobile and console.
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In 2022, longtime collaborators EA and FIFA split up, leading EA’s best-selling FIFA soccer games to rebrand as EA Sports FC. That left FIFA without a video game company to partner with… until now. Konami–whose Pro Evolution Soccer games previously competed with EA’s FIFA titles–has now struck an epsorts deal with FIFA for the FIFAe World Cup.
As announced on Konami’s official site, the company’s eFootball games will be utilized for two different FIFAe World Cup tournaments: one for mobile and one for consoles. However, the deal between Konami and FIFA is only for esports, and doesn’t involve a new console game or rebranding eFootball as a FIFA title.
“We are incredibly excited to join forces with Konami,” said FIFA Chief Business Officer Romy Gai in a statement. “This collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission to promote football globally and to provide a platform for players to showcase their skills. We truly believe in an inclusive ecosystem which allows different communities to be part of the FIFAe competitions.”
The national nomination phase for the FIFAe World Cup competition will run between October 28 and November 3. Further details can be found on Konami’s site, but it doesn’t specify what the prize money will be for the eventual winners.
EA Sports FC doesn’t seem to have lost too many sales by dropping its FIFA branding. But it’s still possible that FIFA could partner with another video game company to create a rival console title. Konami and 2K seem like natural choices, given their history with sporting games. But for now, there isn’t a deal in place for FIFA to go in that direction.
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