Japanese game developer KONAMI and football governing body FIFA have signed an esports-focused agreement that aims to advance the presence of esports within the football industry.
As part of the collaboration, two FIFAe World Cup competitions will take place on KONAMI’s eFootball title.
The FIFAe World Cup featuring eFootball competitions will take place on console and mobile, with both events taking place later in 2024. Exact dates regarding these two editions have not been disclosed, however, qualifying for both events begins today (October 10th).
The events will see football’s governing body and KONAMI have invited 18 nations to participate in the competitions. According to a release, the nations were selected based on their eFootball player base and the nations’ performances in previous FIFAe competitions.
The nations competing are Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, England, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand and Türkiye.
KONAMI is one of three major game developers that have joined forces with FIFA following the body’s split from EA Sports in 2023. In August, FIFAe held its first multi-title esports event in Liverpool alongside Sports Interactive-developed Football Manager. At that same event, eFootball was also highlighted through a separate competition. Moreover, the FIFAe World Cup is set to host a Rocket League competition later this year.
In recent years, KONAMI has secured various partnerships to expand the eFootball esports scene. In 2022, it joined forces with seven Italian football clubs to create the Coppa eFootball Italia tournament.
Koji Kobayashi, Senior Executive Officer at KONAMI, spoke on the deal: “At KONAMI, we have continued to take on challenges in the development of football simulation and esports.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to FIFA for providing us with this opportunity. We can’t wait for the FIFAe World Cup to begin. We look forward to sharing the enthusiasm, excitement, and joy of our players around the world through the FIFAe World Cup.”
