Konami Announce Another Exclusive PES Deal In Big Blow To EA Sports And FIFA 21

Konami have announced an exclusive long-term deal with AS Roma, starting from PES 2021.

Last year, the Japanese gaming company made a huge acquisition when they secured the full licence for Serie A champions Juventus and they've followed it by signing up another Serie A side.

Ahead of the release of the PES 2021 season update on September 15, Konami shared a brand new trailer which not only confirmed that PES is the only game where you can play as the Giallorossi in their proper kit at the Stadio Olimpico, legends such as Francesco Totti, Gabriel Batistuta and Cafu also feature.

Jonas Lygaard, Senior Director Brand & Business Development at Konami, commented: "We have a long history of championing Italian football through the eFootball PES series and we're proud and humbled that AS Roma is the latest to join that legacy.

"This year's PES 2021 will be the only console video game with a truly authentic recreation of the club, but it's also just the start of what will be a long and fruitful partnership."

The news comes as a huge blow to EA Sports who are experiencing a repeat scenario like what happened with Juventus - now known as 'Piemonte Calcio' on the game.

AS Roma will simply be referred to as 'Roma FC' in FIFA 21, while the club will also have a custom crest and kit.

"AS Roma will now be Roma FC, playable and equipped with a custom badge and kit throughout Kick-Off, Career Mode, FIFA Ultimate Team and VOLTA FOOTBALL," an official statement from EA read at the start of the month.

"Roma FC will now compete in Stadion Olympik. You can still expect to see the same AS Roma real-world, authentic players and related likenesses in EA Sports FIFA 21 and EA Sports FIFA 21 Ultimate Team.

"Player Chemistry within EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Ultimate Team will be unaffected by these changes. We'd like to thank everyone at AS Roma for the years of collaboration as the team's Official Sports Video Gaming partner."

Playing with an unlicensed Juventus on FIFA 20 became a lot less appealing and one would expect it to be the case with Roma this year.

Topics: gaming news, Football News, GAMING, Football, Serie A, AS Roma, PES 2021, Juventus, FIFA 21

Josh Lawless

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