FIFA and Konami announced a new partnership to hold two Virtual World Cup championships (FIFAe World Cup) with the eFootball game. One of the tournaments will be for consoles and PCs, while the other will be for mobile devices.
This collaboration marks a significant change, as football’s governing body has been a partner of EA for many years, producing the famous “FIFA” football game series since 1993.
However, this cooperation ended in 2022 due to financial and strategic issues, leading EA to rename its games to EA Sports FC from 2023 onwards.
The association with Konami will not imply the creation of a new “FIFA” game. Instead, the partnership focuses on events and championships.
Details of the partnership between FIFA and Konami
Romy Gai, FIFA‘s chief business officer, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, saying it is in line with the mission to promote football globally and provide a platform for players to showcase their skills. “We are incredibly excited to join forces with Konami.
This collaboration perfectly aligns with our mission to promote football globally and provide a platform for players to showcase their skills.
We truly believe in an inclusive ecosystem that allows different communities to be part of FIFAe competitions,” he said.
Koji Kobayashi, senior executive director at Konami, also expressed satisfaction with the agreement, highlighting the desire to promote eFootball in a new dimension.
“At Konami, we continue to face challenges in the development of football and eSports simulation. We are delighted to be able to contribute to promoting eFootball in a new dimension through this collaboration with FIFAe.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to FIFA for giving us this opportunity. We can’t wait for the FIFA World Cup to begin”, commented Kobayashi.
The first tournament will feature 18 invited countries, including Brazil. The selection of nations was based on player performance and results from previous competitions.
Following the announcement, there will be qualifiers to choose the best players in each country. The competition is open to everyone who has the most recent version of the game installed, thus promoting an inclusive and competitive environment.
