Konami Ends Partnership with UEFA, Which Means No Champions League in PES
Konami has announced following the UEFA Champions League Final on May 26th in Kyiv, their partnership deal with UEFA will come to an end, which means that PES 2019 will no longer feature the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League or any officially licensed European club tournament for that matter licensed under UEFA.
Even though deals do come to an end, I think most of us assumed that Konami would extend upon their existing 10-year association with UEFA, so this news will be quite concerning for loyal fans of the series. Sure, there are some fantastic mod updates from the likes of PES World, but where Konami will go from here with such a key trump card missing in their uphill battle to compete with EA’s FIFA series remains to be seen. Does Konami have other big deals up their sleeves?
However, UEFA’s marketing director of Events; Guy-Laurent Epstein said that “we look forward to continuing to work with Konami in the sphere of UEFA national team football.” And Konami’s senior director of brand and business development, Jonas Lygaard added “This year, however, we will shift our focus into other areas. We will continue to explore alternative ways UEFA and Konami can continue to work together, as our relationship remains strong.“
Which the above statements reads to me that Konami might have some kind of deal with UEFA regarding the international teams up their sleeves after all, so could that mean PES will hold the European Championships licence? That would be great, but it will still leave a gapping whole for those that want to get a fix with Europe’s biggest club competitions, such as the Champions League.
Regardless of where Konami and UEFA goes from here, it will feel strange not hearing that iconic UEFA Champions League theme music being played in the next PES. Surely, this must also mean that EA’s FIFA will claim the UEFA club competition licence? Let us know you thoughts on all this across our social media channels.