Atalanta Will Not Feature In FIFA 22 After Signing Exclusive Partnership With Konami

In another huge blow to the EA Sports franchise, Serie A side Atalanta will be unlicensed in FIFA 22 after the club signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Konami.

Pro Evolution Soccer will therefore have exclusive access to the club's team name, crest and official kits in a deal that will commence at the start of the 2021/22 campaign.

The agreement means Atalanta, who finished in third place behind AC Milan and Inter Milan in Serie A this season, join four other Italian teams - Roma, Lazio, Juventus and Napoli - in the jump over to PES.

Gian Piero Gasperini's side will, therefore, be given a generic name, badge and kit in FIFA 22, although players' faces and names are likely to remain the same.

Back in 2019, Konami secured a partnership with Juventus ahead of the FIFA 20 release, which meant EA Sports were forced to create a brand new image for The Old Lady in the form of Piemonte Calcio.

Juventus players' faces and names remained the same but Juventus' home stadium, the Allianz Stadium, also featured in PES 2020 instead of FIFA.

Last season, it was announced ahead of the release of FIFA 21 that AS Roma had signed an exclusive partnership deal with Konami, meaning the club were renamed Roma FC in-game alongside a generic kit and badge.

And only recently, Konami announced an exclusive PES deal with Napoli from July 1.

The Neapolitan outfit will be in FIFA 22 as normal but will not be licensed in various game modes in FIFA 23 the following year and beyond.

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