Earlier this year, EA Sports lost their rights to use the Juventus’ club name, jersey or stadium in their annual installment FIFA, due to Japanese video game publishers Konami securing their rights for the Italian champions. Now SEGA is following the same, as the Old Lady will be renamed to ‘Zebre’ in their upcoming simulator Football Manager 2020.
Just like FIFA, SEGA’s managerial simulator annual franchise will see the Bianconeri in a new club crest, redesigned jersey, and a custom stadium. However, they will too be able to retain the players’ names and faces.
Just like the name ‘Pienonte Calcio’ was inspired from a defunct Italian club ‘Piemonte FC’ from the early days of Prima Categoria, ‘Zebre’ is one of the many nicknames Juventus has gained. ‘Zebre’ means zebra in Italian, a nod to the club’s black and white jersey.
Check out this in game picture below, showcasing an unlicensed Juventus, courtesy of Goal.com.
Modders have already started creating fixes and unofficial patches that players can use to alter the name back to Juventus. This will also help with the in game naming of Champions League and Europa League into Euro Cup and Euro Vase, respectively, also due to licensing issues, as its currently held by EA Sports.
Football Manager 2020 is releasing 19 November on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, macOS and as a launch title for Google Stadia.
