Konami Ends 10-Year PES Partnership With UEFA

Konami Ends 10-Year PES Partnership With UEFA

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Richard Walker

UEFA has announced that its 10-year long partnership with Konami for the PES footie series will be coming to an end with the 2018 UEFA Champions League final in Kyiv. Presumably, this means that PES 2019 won't have a UEFA Champion League mode and the accompanying licenses.

"Konami has been a strong licensing partner for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, with our competition brand being heavily featured within the video game and as part of the popular Konami-organised UEFA Champions League e-sports tournaments" said UEFA Events Marketing Director Guy-Laurent Epstein.

"It has been a very cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership. UEFA would like to thank Konami for its tremendous commitment and support to UEFA club competitions for the last decade and we look forward to continuing to work with Konami in the sphere of UEFA national team football."

Konami left the door open for "alternative ways UEFA and Konami can continue to work together", with Senior Director of Brand & Business Jonas Lygaard stating that the relationship between the two "remains strong". He added that PES 2019 will see a "shift" in focus "to other areas", which could mean Konami might be pursuing other licenses.

"The UEFA Champions League license has given us a platform to create unique experiences and provide football fans from all over the world with an opportunity to enjoy this competition first-hand," said Lygaard.

[Via UEFA]

Comments
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  • Konami can go out of business for all I care
  • EA will get the license probably. But this is good news, since there's only one company that's although slightly worse than EA and that's Konami. #FucKonami
  • Konami's current shareholders probably aren't even aware PES is/was a thing. PachinKonami could not possibly care less.
  • @1, @2, IMBECILES!
  • UEFA coming to a FIFA near you.
  • Lol konami will disappear soon
  • An absolute shame because PES 2018 is an amazing game and far better than FIFA right now.
  • I can see this franchise imploding in the near future and getting either cancelled outright or being drastically reduced in scope, as no-one will want to play a football game when their favourite players aren't in it.
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