The holdout? One of the last exclusive licenses still held by Pro Evolution Soccer — the Camp Nou, home pitch of FC Barcelona, which signed a three-year pact with Konami in 2016.
FIFA 19 still has Barcelona in the game, of course. Its players are among the more than 200 new head scans EA Vancouver did for La Liga players this year. They’ll combine with La Liga’s specific broadcast package, introduced in FIFA 18 (along with the MLS’), to bring a greater level of fidelity to fans of Spanish football.
Last year’s FIFA 18 launched with 79 stadiums (50 of them real life) and added 12 more with the free World Cup 2018 update that launched in the spring. So the real-world stadium roster has gone up by a third, a huge jump for a series that already had a ton of them.
Earlier this year, UEFA chose not to renew a 10-year exclusive deal for The Champions League and Europa League with Pro Evolution Soccer, and those two tournaments will now feature in FIFA 19. Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 launches Aug. 28 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and Aug. 30 on Windows PC. FIFA 19 launches on Sept. 25 for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Windows PC and Xbox One.