It seems we have a licensing war afoot. Konami has announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with Italian football club Juventus. Unlike some other deals that were signed recently, this deal prevents the club from appearing in FIFA 20. As Konami has been struggling to keep a hold on licenses in recent years, this is definitely a huge get. In addition, it was announced that Miralem Pjanić will not only become a PES ambassador, but will also be found on the cover of eFootball PES 2020.
As part of the deal, Konami will have exclusive use of Juventus’ uniforms, logo, stadium, and of course, the name itself for use in PES 2020. However, the players themselves are licensed separately, and as such, FIFA 20 will be able to feature the roster in-game. That includes former FIFA 19 cover star Cristiano Ronaldo, who can still be found in FIFA 20. However, that’s the only official capacity in which the club can be used. Konami’s 3D scanning will be utilized, giving some of the most realistic renders of the soccer stars in a game yet.
As for FIFA, while the Juventus players will still be present, the club will be renamed Piemonte Calcio. In addition, a new badge and kit will be introduced to correspond with this change. In an ironic twist, this is essentially the same situation as PES being forced to call Manchester United Man Red for the longest time. However, this won’t have an effect on how the players will actually play in-game.
Konami has been scooping up many huge names the lead-up to PES 2020. Just recently the Japanese publisher announced a landmark deal with Manchester United, giving PES full rights to the club. However, as a result of that (and EA’s grip on Premier League), it consequently had to end its partnership with Liverpool. It’ll be tough to tell if it’ll be enough to stand up to FIFA, but Konami definitely did not come to play.
[Source: Eurogamer]
