Juventus' exclusive deal with Konami's eFootball series has come to an end, opening the door for the Serie A giants to possibly return to the FIFA video game franchise, which is soon to be rebranded as EA Sports FC.
Both Juventus and Serie A have seen their Konami licensing contracts come to an end, although Napoli, Lazio, Roma and Atalanta will remain exclusively available in eFootball.
Juventus had been exclusive to Konami since 2019, forcing EA Sports to remove the club's name and branding in favor of the alternatively named "Piemonte Calcio".
What does this mean?
While Juventus' name and branding has not been in EA Sports games, the club's players have been available in the FIFA franchise.
The announcement opens the door for FIFA 23, the last of the series with that title before branding switches to EA Sports FC in 2023, to include Juventus' likeness.
EA Sports continues to hold a large portfolio of official licenses, with over 700 teams all over the world included in the game.
The future of FIFA games
Following the next iteration of the game, FIFA 23, EA Sports will officially lose its license with FIFA, prompting a name change.
The video game will then be rebranded EA Sports FC, with little expected to change in terms of how the game functions.
An official statement released by the EA Sports general manager, Cam Weber, confirming the name change read: "After nearly 30 years of creating genre-defining interactive football experiences, we will soon begin an exciting new era.
"Next year, EA Sports FC will become the future of football from EA Sports. Alongside our 300+ license partners across the sport, we’re ready to take global football experiences to new heights, on behalf of all football fans around the world."