PESGAMING:
Konami and the Champions League licence
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2009 News on Sat 05 Jul 2008
So, as I have already made perfectly clear… PESGaming does not report rumour. I hate them, I always have. That said, I did briefly mention something which has been circulating of late in yesterdays article regarding the recent trade show in France.
The Rumour: PES 2009 has acquired the Champions League licence.
I have since been hunting high and low for answers. Well - not that high, or low, but certainly been speaking to the right people and can now bring you…
The Truth: Konami have acquired the Champions League licence.
Double check those two sentences incase you think I just typed the same thing twice. All week we have been hearing that PES 2009 will have the Champions League licence. This is not true - or, at least, this is entirely unconfirmed. What I can now confirm to you, though, is that Konami have indeed acquired the licence.
What does this all mean? Basically that Konami now have the rights to the Champions League, but whether or not they include it in PES 2009 is a whole different question. Surely it would have been mentioned at the trade show if indeed Pro Evolution Soccer was to include it this year? It wouldn’t make sense not to inform the people who will be distributing the game of such a huge fact. All they ended up saying was that they had a new licence which would have a major impact. Like I said yesterday, Konami’s definition of a major impact is likely to be very different to yours or mine.
It turns out that Konami may well be releasing a SEPERATE game altogether, exactly as EA did when they have the licence. It’s believed UEFA are pushing hard for this and I can’t see Konami refusing. After all, it would be a huge money spinner for the company.
You may well notice that there are no direct quotes from any individuals in this article… this is purely as a protection of sources and I would like to remind you that you are reading a website that does not report rumour. It is still possible that PES 2009 will feature the Champions League, but with UEFA pressing hard for a standalone game and the financial benefits of a second game clear, I just find it very unlikely that we’ll be playing it in PES 2009.
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PES 2009 Champions League Mode
Posted by Peter Willis in PES 2009 News on Wed 09 Jul 2008
I was informed last week that Konami had indeed acquired the Champions League licence, but told it may not be in PES 2009. I was then told 2 days ago that it is in fact going to feature in Pro Evo 2009… but opted not to post it as there is a NDA in place. But, you know what, I didn’t sign any NDA - Konami never tell us a thing, they apparently don’t care about 10,000 PES fans coming through our door every single day. Not one single acknowledgement came from Konami following Shifty Bolas’ massive effort at putting together a letter containing the thoughts of the fans.
So screw ‘em, this post is a little bit of a two fingers up to Konami for ignoring us for the past 6 years. You may already know this if you hunt through the forums of a certain website for long enough, but…
The Champions League mode WILL be in Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. Not a seperate game.