eFootball: Konami signs exclusive deal with Inter and AC Milan, as EA FC 25 loses out on more Serie A licenses

Konami has revealed an exclusive partnership with Inter and AC Milan for their eFootball game. Inter Milan and AC Milan are two of the biggest football clubs in Italy’s Serie A football league. This exclusive partnership means that only eFootball has the complete rights to use both club’s names, logo, kit design and other likeness in the game.

This announcement comes across a bit shocking, given the huge popularity of EA’s fabled FC (once FIFA) series. FC 24 had arrived last year, boasting its ability to retain a plethora of licensing rights from various leagues and teams in the world, showcasing its prowess to continue supposedly unharmed after their partnership ended with FIFA.

While FC 24 had almost every licencing rights secured, there were still a few clubs with genuine names and logos missing. Konami had signed an exclusive deal with Serie A’s Lazio and Atalanta, which resulted in FC 24 having Lazio has Latium, and Atalanta as Bergamo Calcio.

FC 25 will be featuring Inter Milan as Lombardia FC (via X), while AC Milan will be renamed as Milano Calcio (via Reddit), as per multiple reports. While exclusive team rights restrain other games from representing the team using their actual name, logos, and kits, the same is not true for the players in the team.

Konami’s exclusive deal with AC Milan and Inter Milan for eFootball is different from the FIFPro licence, which is an agreement for real player names and likeness. So, even though AC Milan and Inter Milan will have generic names in FC 25, the player names and faces would still be genuine in FC 25.