FIFA 14 will have 19 'authentic' Brazilian teams
EA Sports announced that it reached licensing agreements with 19 soccer clubs in Brazil today, and will be bringing those teams to FIFA 14 this year. FIFA 13 had 20 Brazilian teams, but not all of them were exactly "real."
Unlike the English Premier League, Brazilian league team licenses are negotiated on a team-by-team basis. FIFA 14 will include 19 authentic teams, "meaning authentic kits, club name, crest and real players," an EA representative told Joystiq.
"However, unlicensed clubs can still feature in-game under our FIFPro license which enables us to use real player name/likeness," EA added. So of those 20 Brazilian teams in FIFA 13, a handful were unlicensed clubs. That means fully-licensed teams such as Internacional, Nautico and Ponte Preta in FIFA 14 were seen as I. Porto Alegre, N. Recife and P. Campinas in FIFA 13. "We call these clubs 'art generic' because an artist makes the kit/crest look very similar. Football fans know the difference," EA said.
FIFA 14 will only include clubs from the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A league (the top league of three within Brazil's professional soccer system) with the exception of Palmeiras, a popular team that was recently relegated to Serie B. EA does not have licensing agreements in place for use of team logos and kits for two Serie A teams that were in FIFA 13 and Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, EC Bahia and SC Corinthians. The publisher is still in negotiations for "additional club and league licenses and will have more announcements to make." FIFA 14 is due out in North America on September 24, and will also come to PS4 and Xbox One later this year.
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EA SPORTS TO FEATURE 19 OFFICIALLY LICENSED BRAZILIAN CLUBS IN FIFA 14
Number of Authentic Brazilian Clubs Nearly Doubles For FIFA 14
Guildford, UK, – July 17, 2013 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) announced today that EA SPORTS™ has secured licensing agreements with 19 of the top football clubs from Brazil, ensuring each officially licensed club will feature the authentic club crest, kits and players in-game. FIFA 14 will feature over 30 leagues, more than 600 clubs, and 16,000 players.
"We're very excited to bring the stars of the top Brazilian clubs into our games," said David Rutter, Executive Producer of the FIFA franchise. "For all our fans that support and love Brazilian football, this will only add to the authentic FIFA experience they enjoy, and the additional clubs will bring undiscovered players from Brazil into the FIFA Ultimate Team universe."
FIFA 14 will feature nearly twice as many officially licensed Brazilian clubs over the last iteration of the game, including 18 teams from the Série A. The 19 Brazilian clubs who have been officially licensed and will be showcased in-game are: Atlético Mineiro, Atlético Paranaense, Botafogo, Coritiba, Criciúma, Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Fluminense, Goiás, Grêmio, Internacional, Náutico, Palmeiras, Ponte Preta, Portuguesa, Santos, São Paulo, Vasco da Gama, and Vitória.
Additional new league and club licenses will be announced prior to FIFA 14's release in North America on September 24 and worldwide on September 27. The game will also be available on Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and the PlayStation®4 later this year. FIFA 14 is available for pre-order* on selected platforms now at http://www.origin.com and other retailers.
FIFA Ultimate Team is the most popular game mode within EA SPORTS FIFA that reflects the best recent real-world performances of the world's best players . Over 3.4 million games of FIFA Ultimate Team are played daily, and over 17 million footballers are transferred through the transfer market on a daily basis, as millions of fans re-shape their squads based on the real-world performances of their favorite players.
FIFA 14**, developed at EA Canada, will be available on the Xbox 360® games and entertainment system with Kinect™ from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system with PlayStation Move support, Windows® PC, Nintendo Wii™, Nintendo 3DS™***, PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable). The game will also be available on Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and the PlayStation®4 later this year. FIFA 14 on mobile*** will be available on iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod® touch as well as Android devices this fall. Other mobile platforms will be revealed later.
Join the EA SPORTS community at http://www.facebook.com/easports or follow us on Twitter @easportsfifa using the hash tag #FIFA14. For information about FIFA 14 visit www.easports.com/fifa. The games have not yet been rated.
EA SPORTS is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, fan programs and cross-platform digital experiences. EA SPORTS creates connected experiences that ignite the emotion of sports through industry-leading sports videogames, including Madden NFL football, FIFA, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® golf, SSX™, and EA SPORTS UFC. For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com.
