EA and UEFA ink deal for Champions League title

Top publisher Electronic Arts has signed an agreement with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to publish an official videogame based on the Champions League soccer tournament.

The game is set to feature more than 239 official teams, and will be developed at EA Canada's offices in Vancouver - where the company's hugely successful FIFA Football series of games is created.

The new collaboration with UEFA comes in the wake of the successful UEFA Euro 2004 Portugal, which was the first time that the association had worked with Electronic Arts on a title.

"We are thrilled to team up with Electronic Arts on bringing the most prestigious European club competition to football enthusiasts of all ages" according to UEFA CEO Lars-Christer Olsson. "Our close collaboration throughout the development of this game has ensured that players will be able to experience the most life-like rendition of the UEFA Champions League in a game format.

The title - which will, of course, be published on the EA Sports brand - is expected to ship in early February 2005, and will be available for all three home console platforms and for PCs.

Edited 22/11/04 at 13.27: This is NOT in fact the first official Champions League title, as previously stated in this article. Previous titles based on the Champions League were developed by the now-defunct Silicon Dreams and published by Eidos Interactive. Apologies for any confusion caused.