Last week EA released a news statement stating the J1 League, Japan’s top flight soccer league, would be featured in FIFA 17. On the surface it’s not surprising seeing as EA has been adding more and more licensed leagues to its FIFA franchise for the past few years. In typical OS fashion, let’s dive a little deeper to see what impact, if any, this has on consumers.


Japan has long been a PES stronghold dating back to the game’s roots. With its headquarters in Japan, Konami has released two separate games; one exclusively for its Japanese compatriots featuring the J1-League and another game for the rest of the world. This dual-release model always sparked a bit of discussion as there really was no need for two unique releases where one could be adequate. There are a few valid reasons behind this approach, namely the inclusion of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League which is on a different schedule from their European counterparts. While the J1 isn’t as popular as the Chinese Super League and their influx of cash, the addition adds more teams in Asia and takes us one step towards an official AFC.

The ramifications of this inclusion go beyond adding another league as this takes FIFA one step closer towards world domination, specifically in the licensing department. With most of Europe’s top leagues wrapped up, Asia and South America remain the last two holdouts. While PES currently has the upper hand in South America(notably Copa Liberatadores) the gap is narrowing as EA currently has partial rights (players, clubs or a combination of both) to the domestic leagues of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. As the popularity of FIFA’s Ultimate Team continues to rise (barring this week’s team chemistry discovery) the appeal of licensing and EA’s deep pockets could see an increase in the amount of clubs available to use in FIFA 17 and beyond.


With the inclusion of Japan’s top flight, are you more likely to venture outside of Europe’s top traditional leagues?