Pro Evolution Soccer is one of the most popular titles for Konami, however, the company will not be renewing its UEFA Champions League license for the game which is odd considering such licenses are one of the things that gave Pro Evolution Soccer an advantage over FIFA.
Konami didn’t reveal the reason why it has opted to not renew the license and has only stated that “This year, however, we will shift our focus into other areas”.
UEFA Champions League license was exclusive to Pro Evolution Soccer and the game was already way behind when it came to licenses compared to FIFA and with Konami deciding to not renew it we can be sure that EA Sports will take the opportunity to get the license for next FIFA title.
FIFA is the main and the only competitor to Pro Evolution Soccer and with Kinami decision to drop the exclusive license it seems that Konami has lost interest in its popular soccer game and we might be seeing this franchise going the way of Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania.
Speaking of FIFA, it is an annual franchise for EA Sports, however, EA has hinted that it might ditch the yearly release of FIFA in favor of service model. Meaning instead of a yearly new release, players can pay a subscription fee to receive new content and upgrades.
There’s a world where it gets easier and easier to move that code around — where we may not have to do an annual release. We can really think about those games as a 365-day, live service.
EA chief Andrew Wilson added that with the streaming services, things have changed a lot, it has changed how people watch television and more. He hinted that EA might move towards streaming games like FIFA, Madden NFL, and NHL which itself present problems like “screen size and session time”.
What do you think of Konami not renewing the UEFA Champions League license? Will it have any impact on the game and its sales? Let us know in the comments.
