FIFA is making some major changes to its esports scene as the company confirms that it's no longer working with EA on its annual esports tournament. For many years FIFA dominated the video game space thanks to its licensing deal with EA which helped keep competitors like Konami out of the spotlight. Konami long tried to topple FIFA's reign with its own Pro Evolution Soccer series before ultimately pivoting to focus on the free-to-play market with eFootball, a move that's seemingly paying dividends thanks to a new contract.
Per GamesIndustry.biz, FIFA has partnered with Konami to host its FIFAe World Cup esports event which will be played with eFootball rather than EA's EA Sports FC 25. Starting today, players can participate in qualifying matches that will ultimately feed into two main tournaments set to take place in 2024: One will be dedicated to the mobile version of eFootball while the other will be on consoles. The first championship will include players from across the world, including Brazil, Costa Rica, England, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, and Türkiye.
