EA FC 24 suffers blow as FC Barcelona renews partnership with eFootball series
Spotify Camp Nou will be missing from EA FC 24, with Konami confirming that FC Barcelona is renewing its partnership with the eFootball series.
Ahead of the launch of EA FC 24, the first solo title from EA Sports following its high-profile split from FIFA, the publisher has been keen to emphasise the fact that its new EA Sports FC series will feature "unrivalled authenticity", with the upcoming game set to feature over 9,000 players, 700 teams, 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues.
But, one stadium that definitely won't be featuring in EA FC 24 is Spotify Camp Nou, the iconic home of FC Barcelona, with Konami confirming today that the La Liga giants have signed a partnership renewal with its eFootball series – one of EA Sports FC's main competitors. The last time Camp Nou featured in an EA Sports title was in FIFA 16, and it looks like players will have to wait even longer for it to return.
Although Spotify Camp Nou will be missing from EA FC 24, the game will still feature a fully-licensed FC Barcelona team, with real names, faces, badges and more. That's because EA Sports has extensive licensing agreements with most of the top football leagues around the world, including La Liga, which will actually be named La Liga EA Sports this season, with the publisher keen to show off its partnership.
And it's the same story with the Premier League, with Konami currently having two English clubs as official partners: Manchester United and Arsenal. However, because EA Sports has a licensing agreement with the Premier League, these individual club agreements don't impact the authenticity of EA FC 24, which will feature all 20 Premier League teams, including players, managers, badges and stadiums.
Pep Guardiola went back on his word after blocking last-ditch Barcelona transfer
Licence to thrill
As the launch of EA FC 24 draws ever closer, there was increasing speculation around FC Barcelona's licensing agreements, and whether the Spanish club would indeed renew its partnership with Konami, or jump ship to EA Sports. And although it's a shame that Spotify Camp Nou won't be in EA FC 24, which is actually a demolition site in real-life right now, this agreement will do little to impact the ongoing EA Sports vs Konami battle.
The fact is, EA Sports has been winning this battle for quite some time now, and it's not even close. Despite there being a small opportunity for Konami to potentially capture some new players with the EA Sports FC rebranding, eFootball has never really recovered from its disastrous launch, which led to the series going free-to-play, and even having Lionel Messi as the game's cover star couldn't save it.
Gameplay is king, and with eFootball being a much worse game than EA Sports' recent offerings, including FIFA 23, even big partnerships like this won't be enough to tip the balance. But, if Konami did get its act together and bring back some of the Pro Evolution Soccer magic, then that's a different conversation.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
