Konami Moves PES Football Franchise to F2P, Renames as ‘eFootball’

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Konami’s PES Football franchise has been a long-lasting soccer series that has always innovated the game, but Konami has now decided to completely shake things up. While the name eFootball has been in the PES title in recent years, Konami is strictly renaming the series eFootball, and this is just the beginning. eFootball will be a free-to-play game on all platforms and the game will be a digital-only release. Konami is also abandoning the Fox Engine in favor of the Unreal Engine as it introduces Motion Matching to reportedly create the most realistic one-on-one battles the series has seen.

eFootball will be available on current and previous generation consoles along with PC. Konami wants to make the title accessible for everyone to play, so no matter the system, cross-platform play will be offered. Launching this Fall, Konami will regularly add new content and game modes with some being optional DLC. The base game will include local matches featuring FC Barcelona, Juventus, FC Bayern, Manchester United and others and this will be free at launch. Konami has also laid out its roadmap which you can view below along with the trailer for the game:

“Starting with the strong foundations of Unreal Engine, which has allowed us to massively overhaul player expression, we’ve made a number of modifications to virtually create a new football game engine that will power eFootball for years to come,” said Seitaro Kimura, eFootball series Producer at Konami Digital Entertainment. “With the added power of new-generation consoles and by working closely with elite footballers, eFootball delivers our most tense and realistic gameplay to date. We’ll share specific gameplay details next month, so stay tuned.”

Early Fall:

  • 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

Fall:

  • 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

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