Konami, the Japanese game developer building the next iteration of the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) game, has secured the rights for the Italian Serie A team Juventus. According to a report by CNBC, this has led to the corporation Electronic Arts (EA) losing 3.28 percent of its shares, costing the company around $820 million. This is due to EA producing arguably the most popular football game, FIFA, which will not be able to include Juventus branding.

War for licenses

The FIFA franchise has been for most people the go-to soccer (“football” internationally) video game. The variety of game modes offline and online, simple yet intuitive gameplay, and the varying editions of player cards from pack openings are all attractive. But one of the most impressive things is the amount of licensed teams available in the game.

On the other side, we have Pro Evolution Soccer, once deemed to be the greatest football game but now overshadowed by its rival, FIFA. Lacking in licenses, with team names such as “Man Red” or “MD White” for popular teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid, the game has been scoffed at.

The newest iteration of PES, dubbed ePES for its apparent focus on esports, is shaping up to have more and more licensed teams. PES2019 was already an improvement in terms of licensed teams. Konami had secured Barcelona long ago, but for the newest game, Bayern and Juventus will be officially added.

The most groundbreaking aspect of the deal Konami has made is Juventus can only appear with the original name, stadium, and kit in ePES 2020. FIFA 2020 will have a team named “Piemonte Calcio” to be the Juventus replacement name. The player names will, however, be real.

What’s the big deal?

You may think to yourself — it’s just one team, right? Who cares? Well, apparently, a lot of people do. Juventus, along with arguably the most popular football player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, is one of the most popular football teams on the planet.

There has been quite a lot of discussion on the FIFA subreddit. Some users feel that licenses for top teams are a major selling point of FIFA games. The loss of Juventus has some fans worried about the game’s future. Some believe that PES‘s gameplay is generally better than that of FIFA‘s, so if ePES continues to acquire more major team licenses, players may switch over to the latter.

On the flip side, some people couldn’t care less. Some say that if custom option files that let players customize kits, names, and badges will be accessible, then it is not a deal-breaker for them. However, a lot of people can simply not be bothered with customizing and or downloading files. They expect the names to be set and ready for them to use.

What is your take on the situation? Is the newest iteration of Pro Evolution Soccer on your radar? Let us know down in the comments below, and as always follow us for all the latest news in the esports universe.