It’s all change for the artist formerly known as PES!
The PES franchise as we know it is no more as Konami has decided to make the long-running football simulator a free-to-play game called eFootball – and the early releases are now a thing of the past too!
We had known for a while now that big changes were afoot for the game and one of those changes is that it has now been built on the new version of Unreal Engine, which will make it look and play better than ever. What we had not anticipated was a complete change to the whole brand, and it will be interesting to see how well eFootball does when it launches compared to the PES games of old.
An added boost is that thanks to the new engine, the same version of the game will be played regardless of what you play it on – so there’s no difference between playing on the PS5 or on mobile and in even better news, the game will be free to play!
It is worth keeping in mind here that while you will be able to play it for free, there will be monetary aspects to the game but as yet, we don’t know what they will be. In fact, there are many questions about what this new game will retain from the PES days – are Master Team and My Club now consigned to the history books? Read on for more details!
When is the new eFootball game’s release date?
We should be hearing more about all this next month, with the game currently eyed for a release in the early autumn. While we do not have an exact date yet, a release towards the end of the year is in keeping with past releases. And we imagine, given the reboot of PES here, that they will be looking to release this at a similar time to FIFA 22 to try and steal some of their thunder.
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Which consoles and platforms can play the new eFootball game?
Konami’s eFootball game will launch for free on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, mobile and PC – so a lot of people will likely try this out who may not have been inclined to before. Only Nintendo Switch fans are getting left out, with no release on that particular console being promised at this stage.
What’s on the eFootball roadmap?
!["Behold,]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/07/eFootball-roadmap-2222a88.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C349" "\"Behold,")
What you can see above is the current roadmap for the game – displayed in one handy image! As you can see, it all starts in early autumn with the game being rolled out, including local matches and cross-generational online matches.
Then, later in autumn, online leagues will begin and Konami will also roll out a team-building mode (the PES version of FIFA Ultimate Team is usually called My Team, so it’ll be interesting to see if that branding remains). Cross-platform matches will kick off at this point, with PC players being able to take on PlayStation or Xbox adversaries. Something called the Match Pass System will also come into effect at this point.
And come the winter, there will be eSports Tournaments and even more ways for cross-platform games to take place. Plus, mobile controllers will be supported from the winter onwards. And with eFootball being on Konami’s long term plan going forward, you can expect more modes and experiences to be added beyond that.
The option mode will also be making a return but once again this will be something that those who play on the Xbox will miss out on with it only being available as a free update on the PlayStation and PC.
Does the new eFootball game have Master League or Career Mode?
As it stands, Konami has not officially announced a Master League or Career Mode experience for eFootball, but that doesn’t mean these single-player modes won’t be added at some point. Giving us a glimmer of hope, Konami has said in a press release, “As a digital-only title, KONAMI will regularly add new content and game modes after launch this Autumn. […] In the future, certain game modes will be sold as optional DLC, giving players the freedom to build an experience that follows their interests.”
Since then we have had an update on this and Master League is coming – just don’t expect it to be available at launch when the game will be more in keeping with a large demo than it will be the full experience.
What teams are in the new eFootball game?
Only a handful of teams have been confirmed for eFootball thus far. The confirmed teams at this stage are Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Arsenal, Corinthians, Flamengo and Sao Paulo and River Plate. We would hope that more teams are added after launch, though.
Is there a trailer for the new eFootball game?
There sure is an eFootball trailer doing the rounds. Here it is for you to check out.
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