FIFA did not completely retreat from the video game business after parting ways with EA. Football’s governing body has partnered with Konami to host two editions of the FIFAe World Cup on console and mobile versions of eFootball later this year.
Qualifying for both tournaments begins today, and FIFAe World Champions (one each on mobile and console) will be crowned later this year. Eighteen FIFA member associations are participating: Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, England, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand and Turkiye. These were chosen based on the past performance of each country’s esports competitors and each country’s eFootball player base.
FIFA has introduced eFootball into its eSports framework alongside Rocket League (car soccer) and Football Manager (soccer management). It is too early to tell whether Konami’s title will become FIFA’s official licensing partner for major soccer matches and adopt the name of the governing body. Still, it’s clear that FIFA and Konami have a positive relationship, and this could be a step toward a larger partnership. Hey, they both even use that stupid “e” branding.
EA Sports FC is the most popular soccer sim series. eFootball, on the other hand, is the closest thing to a true competitor. Steam concurrent players peaked at 17,610 in the last 24 hours, while EA Sports FC 25 had 98,400 concurrent players.
