Juventus has signed an exclusive deal with Konami, the games company that makes Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2020. This new deal means that Fifa 20 will not feature Juventus.
However, for Fifa 20 players who want to play Juventus stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Mathijs de Ligt, they will have to search for “Piemonte Calcio” instead of Juventus.
Piemonte Calcio will have its own badge and kit, designed by EA Sports.
According to the BBC, this marks the first time in 25 years that Fifa will not hold the licence for the Serie A champions.
The two games have been contending for dominance since Fifa 95 and International Superstar Soccer (PES’s former name) were released in November 1994.
Annual releases followed for each game, with Fifa almost always holding the licences to every major team and player, barring a few notable absences.
For example, EA Sports missed out on the licence to the other Ronaldo back in Fifa 99, where he was replaced by a suspiciously similar Brazilian called A Calcio.
PES historically chose not to pay for expensive licences, instead letting its gameplay speak for itself.
And in PES 2019 Juventus were known as PM Black White.
The latest development marks the first time that PES has got one over on its rival with a major licence.
In a related development, Fifa 20 has announced its own “long-term” partnership with Liverpool FC, which comes after Konami announced their contract with the Champions League winners had come to an end.
