It's the end of an era, folks! Konami has today announced that the PES brand is officially being dropped and replaced with 'eFootball', described as a "next-generation, free-to-play football simulation experience."
The new game will be out this Autumn for Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, utilising the Unreal Engine to deliver an overhauled animation system, improved player expression and more.
In terms of the features roadmap, here's what you can expect:
Early Autumn:
- All-new gameplay experience, powered by Unreal® Engine
- Cross-generation matchmaking (i.e. PlayStation®5 vs. PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S vs. Xbox One)
- Local Matches featuring FC Barcelona, Juventus, FC Bayern, Manchester United and more
Autumn:
- Cross-platform matchmaking between consoles and PC (i.e. PlayStation®5 vs. Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation®5 vs. PC Steam®, etc.)
- Team Building Mode (Name TBC) opened – build your own team by acquiring players
- Online Leagues (Name TBC) opened – take your original team and compete in a global, competitive league
- Match Pass system – earn items and players by playing eFootball™
Winter:
- Mobile controller support added
- Full cross-platform matchmaking across all available platforms including mobile when using a compatible controller
- Professional and amateur esports tournaments kick-off
It's certainly a bold move for the franchise, but it's sad to see that the PES name is finally being dropped after all these years. It remains to be seen how the free-to-play model will fare for eFootball over the next year, and we're admittedly concerned that there appears to be an almost total lack of offline single-player modes on the roadmap.
We're intrigued to get more details on eFootball over the coming weeks and months.
What are your thoughts on the announcement of eFootball? Tell us in the comments below.
Comments 15
International Superstar Soccer
@Xenomorph_79 while its got the defacto monopoly on naming rights FIFA will always win out. Their only real chance is to diversify into a free to play model.
@IndoorHero I get your point, but I'd much rather pay full price for a suite of offline features rather than a free-to-play experience geared solely around online play and MyClub, which unfortunately it sounds like this will be.
I certainly wasn't encouraged by the early test of 'eFootball' they put out the other week either, but I don't want to judge that too much.
Hopefully I'm proven wrong, but I have concerns with this.
Cheating was bad enough on Xbox ...so crossplay with pc ffs...cheating will be rampant no doubt ....I'm guessing it will be to much to ask to have an option to have it Xbox/ps crossplay only when you search for matches or wateva
Free to play, expensive to enjoy
Not going to lie those animations and graphics are no where near fifas level.
To me, this is what FIFA Ultimate Team should be, a F2P mode with microtransactions, instead of tagged onto a full priced game.
Konami clearly know that's where the money is at, so if the gameplay is good, they have a chance.
Konami promised to regularly add new content and game modes but not sure if that includes offline.
@BlueOcean I asked Konami's PR about this and they just told me more info on game modes will be revealed in August.
@FraserG Good, let's see if they add offline modes although the name eFootball sounds like an online mobile game.
This is a decent move which may or may not workout for Konami. For those of us with limited time who simply want to play a few matches against friends occasionally, I'll take this over FIFA every time. Providing Konami stay ahead of FIFA in terms of variable, unpredictable and non repetitive gameplay. FIFA will still win younger audiences or those with more time on their hands perhaps but as of the last 5 years of my rapidly aging existence? Not me.
Not played PES or FIFA for a good few years now. I always preferred PES, so this news kinda makes me sad.
This seems like a smart move, especially if progress carries over to mobile too (where the heck is the Switch version?!)
It would be nice to see Konami experiment with the always online nature of the game a little by offering some crazy game modes like 50v50 on a regular pitch or a quick play 5-a-side mode with no outs.
If there is no offline career mode element then I'm done with it
I no longer play football games but I did adore ISS64 and ISS98. Played the first couple PES games and loved them too 😊
This is a real shame.
Fingers crossed it remains an enjoyable gaming experience for fans🤞
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