The Story That Could Have Changed Everything: PlayStation Almost Bought FIFA Exclusivity

PlayStation came dangerously close to obtaining the exclusive FIFA license for soccer video games — a move that would have fundamentally altered the landscape of sports gaming.

In an interview with TheGameBusiness marking PlayStation’s 30th anniversary in Europe, several former Sony employees reflected on the PS1 era and how events might have unfolded if PlayStation had purchased Peter Molyneux’s Bullfrog studio and secured the FIFA license.

Juan Montes, Vice President of Software Development at PlayStation from 1994 to 2000, remarked:

“At the time we were building a football game — the technology was solid, the project was shaping up very well, and we came extremely close to landing the FIFA license. Really close.”

“Ultimately we chose not to pursue it to preserve our relationship with the partner. But we genuinely were on the verge,” Montes added, noting that PlayStation went on to release This is Football and This is Football 2 with FIFPro support, albeit without the FIFA license.

Montes’s account indicates PlayStation deliberately walked away from acquiring EA’s license to avoid turning a collaborator into a competitor — a decision that invites speculation about how different the world of football games might look today.

Source: iXBT.games