Konami Bags Inter Milan for eFootball Exclusivity from 2024
Konami has successfully made Inter Milan an exclusive team for eFootball starting from July 2024.
In a press note, Konami stated that Inter Milan will exclusively appear in eFootball “and no other video game” as of July 2024.
This implies that Inter Milan will not be featured in that year’s EA Sports FC (as EA will drop the FIFA brand from 2023).
EA will have to come up with a fictitious name for the club. Notably, the club has recently brought in Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku on loan in an attempt to contend for the next season’s league title.
When Konami obtained an exclusivity deal for another Italian superclub, Juventus, EA was compelled to rename it Piemonte Calcio in the FIFA games. Nevertheless, the players remained genuine.
EA previously secured 14 exclusively-licensed Serie A teams, including Inter Milan, in a deal that began with last year’s FIFA 22. (Napoli is exclusive to eFootball from this season.)
Though Konami has achieved a victory with Inter Milan for eFootball, EA maintains a tight hold on most of the major football licenses, with the crucial Premier League license being among them.
FIFA 23 will be the final FIFA game from EA, and next year’s game will be named EA Sports FC. FIFA has indicated that it is seeking development partners to create future FIFA games, although it has not yet announced definite plans.
In the nearer future, Inter Milan will be included in eFootball from version 2.0.0 onward. This means the beleaguered game will acquire authentic kits, a freshly branded training kit, and the renowned San Siro stadium within the game.
eFootball had a disastrous launch last year, and Konami has been striving to regain its reputation ever since. Despite several patches, eFootball is still one that many might want to steer clear of.