FC Bayern Munich to remain exclusive to eFootball 2022 – What this means for FIFA 23

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The German record champion has extended its contract with developer Konami. This has consequences for EA Sports and FIFA 23. Also, more rumours about Robert Lewandowski are fuelled

FC Bayern Munich has extended its platinum partnership with Konami for eFootball 2022. This was officially announced by the German record champion on Wednesday. This therefore also has consequences for the licence in FIFA 23 from EA Sports.

Bayern Munich has already been cooperating with the Japanese video game developer since 2019. At that time, still under the long-standing name Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), the Bayern players were given an exclusive deal. However, the contract, which expires this year, was renewed indefinitely. Due to its “platinum” status, Konami is on the same level as global players Siemens and Qatar Airways.

Since this partnership, Munich”s home ground Allianz Arena has also been left out of the FIFA series. This will continue to be the case. The same applies to the so-called “legends” – one of the reasons why Oliver Kahn will not be an icon in FIFA. While former Konami partners like Juventus Torino could return in FIFA 23 with their real names, EA Sports will thus only have limited rights to FC Bayern. The logo and kit will continue to be used. But Konami is entitled to the face scans of the players and the Allianz Arena.

Konami is said to have already paid a lot of money for these exclusive rights at the start of the partnership in 2019. The then CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge personally flew to Japan to sign the contract, which according to media reports earned the record champion 15 million euros. Accordingly, one can only speculate about a new sum of millions for the contract extension. How long the partnership will continue remained unmentioned by both sides for the time being. However, FC Bayern München uses the word “long-term”, which suggests a further multi-year contract of at least three seasons.

Speculations about Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski is not seen in the trailer or the press images. Because the Polish star striker is willing to switch and has been linked with FC Barcelona, Konami seems to be diverting attention away from him for the time being to the other flagship players such as Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry and Joshua Kimmich.

Below the tweet announcement, a number of comments are multiplying that have noticed Lewandowski”s absence. “Where is Lewandowski?” is said several times by German as well as international users. However, no further information is known. Currently, FC Barcelona is reportedly offering 40 million euros for the goal scorer, whose contract with Bayern still runs until the summer of 2023. Regardless of the future of the world footballer, it is certain that FC Bayern München will remain loyal to Konami and eFootball 2022 – and EA Sports will have to accept a small setback.