PlayStation was on the verge of acquiring the rights to exclusively use the FIFA license in football video games. This move would have drastically changed the current gaming scene.
In an interview with TheGameBusiness, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of PlayStation in Europe, several former Sony employees spoke about the PS1 generation and how the story of buying Peter Molyneux's Bullfrog studio and the FIFA license could have turned out.
Juan Montes, Vice President of Software Development at PlayStation from 1994 to 2000, noted:
"We were creating a football game back then, the technology was good, the game was turning out very well, and we were close to getting the FIFA license. Very close."
"In the end, we decided not to go for it in order to maintain good relations with our partner. But we were really on the verge," Montes added, also talking about the release of This is Football and This is Football 2 games with FIFPro support, but without the FIFA license.
Montes actually confirms that PlayStation refused to acquire the EA license in order not to turn a partner into a competitor. But it makes you wonder what a completely different football world in the gaming industry could be like today.
