The annual battle for football videogame superiority between Konami and Electronic Arts feels like it's been going on for as long as consoles have been around themselves. In fact, that's pretty much the case, for all intents and purposes, given that the first FIFA title to hit the shelves did so in 1993 on the SEGA platforms of the day, while International Superstar Soccer - the precursor to Pro Evolution Soccer - arrived in Japan on the Super Nintendo in 1994.
Since then they've spawned around 36 titles between them and succeeded in dividing opinion on just which was the better all-round football game, with - historically - a sense that while the FIFA games were well-finished in terms of presentation and licenses, the Pro Evo titles were where the real football fans spent their money.
"I think EA would have responded quite badly to that"
If there’s an organization that is more corrupt than EA, it’s for sure FIFA.
I also agree that EA has done more for FIFA on brand awareness too. I know of people that thought FIFA was an EA brand similar to Madden instead of their own independent organization.
Probably a good call on Sony's part given the relationship they needed to build with ea over time and given the era if EA didn't want something they found ways around it such as building their own unlicensed games and bypassing console copyright protection on 16 bit systems to avoid paying licensing
guess you don't remember how bad those Sony sports titles were in the 90s. The only exception would be NBA Shootout '97 which was phenomenal.
I never liked sports games personally, except for ESPN Extreme Games, that was fun for me back in the day.
the Fifa people are some of the scummiest people there is, even outside of the gaming industry.
good on that sony ceo for actually talking to EA first and letting them know what happened.
While EA confirmed that its football title will lose FIFA Licensing starting next year, there are ten companies that can acquire the license.
First I don't think ms would get the nod, they wouldn't be able to get away with it being exclusives. Second it's to big of a game to just put on gamepass and call it a day. I think Konami , sega or 2k could do it justice.
Konami made or should I say farmed out a soccer game and it was a piece of broken shit.
Konami making a football game? Just no. They dropped the ball on that one with their poor version.
EA have cemented a name for themselves with football games. Minus the crappy practises the core gameplay is unbeaten.
2K are the best option they also just purchased The Top Eleven Developer's in 2021.
Even if you get the license, what matters is getting the clubs and leagues that matter to fans. I'd pay good money to anyone who can get every team in the Top 5 Leagues and their stadiums to boot. EA has come close.
"Even if you get the license, what matters is getting the clubs and leagues that matter to fans"
No, gameplay matters most. EA will do that without a license.
Gamerterra writes: "FIFA recently announced its first four games after its long-term partnership with EA ended, and these new games make EA games look really consumer friendly. All four ‘games’ are blockchain projects built with Web 3.0 for the 2022 World Cup."
