Konami replaces EA as FIFA's esports partner
Japanese publisher's eFootball will be used in two FIFA eWorld Cups later this year
FIFA has announced a partnership with Konami to continue its FIFAe World Cup esports tournament, using the publisher's free-to-play title eFootball.
The football association previously ran this competition in collaboration with Electronic Arts, but this partnership came to an end when the pair split in 2022 after 29 years.
The Konami deal will begin with two FIFAe World Cup tournaments within eFootball later this year, one on mobile and the other on console. Qualifying matches begin today, and a champion will be named at the end of each tournament.
For this first year of the new competition, 18 countries have been invited to take part in the final events, including Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, England, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, and Türkiye.
eFootball is the replacement of Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series, which ran for nearly three days. Since going free-to-play in 2019, the game has reached 700 million downloads worldwide.
"At Konami, we have continued to take on challenges in the development of football simulation and esports," said the publisher's senior executive officer Koji Kobayashi. "We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the promotion of eFootball in a new dimension through this collaboration with FIFAe.
"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to FIFA for providing us with this opportunity. We can't wait for the FIFAe World Cup to begin. We look forward to sharing the enthusiasm, excitement, and joy of our players around the world through the FIFAe World Cup."
FIFA's chief business officer Romy Gai added: "We are incredibly excited to join forces with Konami. 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."
FIFA has been exploring other esports partnerships with video games, announcing a FIFAe World Cup tournament for Rocket League earlier this year.