EA kept pushing FIFA through the years by acquiring exclusive club, league and competition licenses that put PES series at a disadvantage. Konami decided to strike back with PES 2020 by signing an exclusive licensing deal with Juventus.
Konami may be looking to push PES series up a bit and potentially cut a bigger share in the FIFA-dominated market, starting with eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020.
Aside from an obvious attempt to appeal to the widest audience possible by including words soccer and football in a single sentence, they are now acquiring exclusive licenses, mirroring what EA was doing with FIFA for years.
This is not like the deal with Manchester United where Konami got the rights to display the club's kits, crest, stadium and the actual name but didn't prevent other games from using it.
Juventus will be exclusive to PES 2020 which means no other game, including FIFA can use said club assets. Therefore, EA will have to settle with a club that bears the name Piemonte Calcio, alternate crest and kits.
Piemonte refers to the part of Italy where Torino, and therefore Juventus, is located. Meanwhile, "calcio" means kick but the Italian people tend to use it often in reference to football and even the Italian premier league, Serie A, was organised by Lega Calcio until 2010.
Piemonte Calcio will still use the real-life version of the players since that bit is licensed separately, and many PES fans are already familiar with the concept due to Konami's troubles with obtaining club licenses over the years.
Konami
Meanwhile, eSports PES 2020 will bask in all of Juventus' glory, past and present since Konami announced Miralem Pjanić will be the PES Ambassador and that the legendary Pavel Nedved will make another appearance in a PES title.
Unfortunately, the classic Juventus kits will not actually appear in the game even though they were displayed in the trailer, worn by Nedved.
Still, this is a proper strike back from Konami as they served EA with a dose of medicine of their own making.
PES 2019 / Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 sports game by Konami
- Image: 1 / 7
