Messi's Move From PSG To Barcelona Also Affects The Game Contract, This Is The Cause

Lionel Messi's move has affected Konami's game icon. (photo: instagram)

JAKARTA – Lionel Messi's mega transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain is officially over, as the Argentine icon signed a two-year contract with the Parisian team last week.

Messi's famous move will have huge football implications. Now the 2021 Copa America winner joins a squad of world-class talents such as Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Angel Di Maria, and Marco Verratti. They will now target to win the Champions League this season.

But the transfer also has implications for the video game industry, impacting the star's licensing, partnerships, and agreements, particularly with Konami's eFootball franchise and EA Sports' FIFA franchise.

Messi is currently the ambassador and cover star for Konami's new eFootball video game franchise, due for release in Fall 2021 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10, and PC Steam, with iOS and Android coming soon. His face will become the icon of the game.

Konami recently revealed that eFootball will replace the iconic PES franchise. Instead, it will release free-to-play games that have crossplay between all platforms and will receive constant upgrades and updates, rather than releasing new games every year.

Messi's former club FC Barcelona have also renewed their long-term partnership with Konami, which began in 2016, for another four years in 2019 leading up to the release of eFootball PES 2020. This allowed Konami to feature Messi as the cover star of their game, as well as exclusive rights to recreate the Camp Nou stadium in its eFootball PES title.

Previously, Messi himself was the cover star for the EA Sports FIFA series from FIFA 13 to FIFA 16, between 2012 and 2015.

Messi's new club, Paris Saint-Germain, also has a long-term partnership with rival FIFA video game franchise EA Sports, a partnership that was renewed for another five years in 2019.

The partnership between PSG and EA Sports has seen French superstar Mbappe feature as the cover star for the two latest FIFA titles, the upcoming FIFA 21 and FIFA 22, due for release on October 1, 2021.

So with Messi's move to Paris this summer, could the Argentine soon grace the cover of EA Sports FIFA's video game for the first time since FIFA 16?

Actually not, according to Konami.

"All eFootball ambassador agreements were signed with the individuals themselves, not with the club they were playing for at the time", a Konami spokesperson told Mirror Football. "Lionel Messi remains an ambassador for eFootball and we look forward to continuing our long-term relationship".

According to Konami, Despite PSG and EA's long-term partnership, Messi's individual deal with Konami means that he will remain as an eFootball ambassador for the time being.

It's the same story with Messi's new team-mate Neymar, who signed a similar agreement with Konami in July 2021. However, with individual clubs, Konami has been stealing the limelight at EA Sports in recent years, especially with Serie A clubs.