THE BUZZ: Nearly half of the 53 national teams in the new UEFA Euro 2012 DLC for FIFA 12 are unlicensed, featuring fake player names and kits.

Gamers have been reporting their anger over the lack of licensing on the EA forums. The teams include, host nation Ukraine, Wales, Slovakia and many others.

An EA spokesperson offered an explanation for the unlicensed squads to Eurogamer:

“The national teams in Euro 2012 are a combination of teams officially licensed or covered by our FIFPro license, and generic teams. While we would like to have every national team officially licensed, of the 53 national teams in the game, 29 are licensed. The remaining ones are generic.”

“The inclusion of national teams is negotiated between EA and each national football association, which we need to license individually. Licensing teams and leagues is a business decision based on market size and limited resources, and within these parameters, we were not able to negotiate an agreement with every football association to have their national team included within the game.”

EGM’s TAKE: FIFA is well known for its fully licensed teams and competitions, this is one of the major factors that first put it ahead of main rival PES. With almost half lacking official licensing it’s no wonder fans are annoyed, especially since at no point did EA share this information before the DLC’s launch. We understand that gaining the licenses from different countries scattered across Europe is difficult, however they should have better communicated this fact with fans, instead of leaving them to find out after they had paid for it.

Are you annoyed at the lack of licensing? Should EA have handled it better? Leave your thoughts below.