Konami has given Pro Evolution Soccer a major makeover - it's now digital only and free to play with the global title of eFootball for all future entries in the soccer simulation series.
On top of these changes, the next game will be playable across PlayStation 5,PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC, and mobile. "We started planning this move roughly two years ago to coincide with the console generation transition and changes in the market environment," explained producer Seitaro Kimura in an interview with IGN about the intriguing announcement. "I believe that we have already proven that this structure can be successful on mobile. By applying the same model across all platforms, we hope that more football fans will be able to play this game on consoles as well." As a result, PES Mobile is in fact the motivator for this transformation, showing that gaming on the go is something to consider for all companies in the industry.
Hypothetically, if I were the developer of a football game with a title that rhymes with Kiefer, I would be keeping an eye on Konami. The new game will also push the envelope with a custom-built engine that draws on the capabilities of Unreal Engine 4. "Unreal Engine's development speed is one of the fastest among game engines, and its scalability includes both high-end and low-end - perfect for mobile and next-gen platforms," continued the producer.
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Check out the trailer for eFootball below, revealing how it will "refine the fundamentals" to bring about a momentous change for the series.
What's more is that veterans won't be thrown off by the shift from the FOX engine as the gameplay is at the heart of the forthcoming experiences in eFootball. "'Ball Control' is new this year," added Kimura. "[This] takes advantage of the R2/RT [trigger buttons] analog input to freely control the strength of the ball touch, and 'Knock-On' enables instantaneous strong touches. Since dribbling is naturally against a defender, we have also added some new elements to the defensive controls, such as 'Match-up' and 'Physical Defending'." Some footage of these new mechanics would be great to see, yet patience is a virtue, after all.
"In order to understand how the best players in the world play the sport, we brought in [footballers Andrés Iniesta and Gerard Piqué] as gameplay advisors and asked for their advice," revealed the producer. "It was a big decision to change the controls that people are used to, but it made the battle for the ball more realistic and more reflective of the user's intentions." This is a lot to take in yet Konami is sure that players will like what they see in these evolutions of the established series. "We hope that football fans all over the world will enjoy the game as a completely new one rather than a simple update to what came before," concluded Kimura.
Featured Image Credit: Konami