Juventus will be renamed in the next edition of Fifa after the Italian club signed a deal granting Pro Evolution Soccer exclusive use of its naming rights for its rival video game.
Cristiano Ronaldo‘s team will be named Piemonte Calcio on Fifa 20, though the names and faces of the players will remain true-to-life.
Pes 2020 developers Konami will instead have the exclusive rights to Juventus’s name, kit, stadium and badge.
Licensing issues has typically been an issue affecting Pes, with clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea appearing in the game as Man Red and London FC.
In recent years, Pes has partnered with big-name clubs to gain the rights to team names, kits and even crowd chants. These have included FC Barcelona, Liverpool FC and Inter Milan.
The latest licensing is a major blow for Fifa, who currently use Ronaldo, clad in a Juventus kit, as one of its cover stars.
The Italian football giants will continue to be called Juventus in Fifa 19 but will become Piemonte Calcio for the next annual edition.
The new name comes from the Piemonte region in Italy where Juventus’s home city of Turin is situated.
In a post to its website, Fifa developer EA Sports gave more details about the end of its Juventus partnership.
“Piemonte Calcio players will share chemistry links with players from the same Nation, League and Club,” the post stated.
“The Piemonte Calcio squad’s player ratings will be updated based off of their real-world performances… Previous EA SPORTS FIFA titles are unaffected by these changes.”
