eFootball 2022 Pre-Order Bonus Details and Reaction

It’s safe to say that thus far everything leading up to eFootball 2022’s release has been less than stellar. From the poor initial trailer to the vague roadmap, Konami has missed sitter after sitter after shaking things up in 2020 with the announcement that it was taking a year off to get prepared for next gen. With Konami confirming that the September 30 release will essentially be a demo, there’s no doubting that the free-to-play eFootball 2022 isn’t ready yet — with many core game elements such as modes and game mechanics (hello sharp kick!) coming later via downloadable content. This hasn’t stopped Konami from trying to cash in early with news that a pre-order bonus is currently available on the PlayStation Store:

eFootball 2022 Pre-Order Discussion

According to the description on the PlayStation Store, the pre-order Premium Player Pack comes with the following:

Bundle Contents

-eFootball 2022 core game
-2,800 eFootball Coins (premium in-game currency)
-Chance Deals*******

*A Chance Deal item allows you to sign 1 of 16 top-tier Ambassador and partner club players.
*This game and the bonus items are available only for the account you purchased.
*The Chance Deals will expire on 04/30/2022, so make sure to use them to sign your players before the expiration date.
*Players signed via a Chance Deal can only be used in eFootball™ 2022.
*Chance Deals and eFootball™ Coins can only be claimed and used after the update scheduled for mid-November of 2021.
*For further details regarding this product and upcoming updates, please check the official eFootball™ website.
*The ‘eFootball™ 2022 core game is included in this bundle is the same as the free-to-play version of the game.

*Get 10% OFF by purchasing through the in-game announcement in eFootball PES 2021 SEASON UPDATE or eFootball PES 2021 LITE.

Now, the core game eFootball 2022 is free, and even though there is a 10% discount if you purchase this premium pack through last year’s update — whether that be mobile or the console/PC version — it’s an odd strategy for a game that’s been so hidden from the public thus far. There are certainly folks out there who will purchase this, especially if they are fans of the previously named MyClub mode, but with so much uncertainty about the game, it’s hard to give Konami the benefit of the doubt here considering their lack of progress so far. With FIFA 22 releasing right around the corner, the pressure is on Konami to deliver, and as of right now, it looks like the game isn’t close to being ready.

Pre-orders are certainly a common thing for video games, but player packs usually come with a fully released game not one that will need patch after patch just to get the features and gameplay we saw in eFootball 2021 Season Update. Unsurprisingly, there are even issues surrounding the pre-order with some users reporting problems with the purchase, which Konami addressed via its official Twitter account:

[For customers who have purchased "eFootball PES 2021 (SEASON UPDATE or LITE)"]

Q: Currently, when I try to pre-order the eFootball ™ 2022 Premium Player Pack from within the game, "Content not found" is displayed on the PS Store and I cannot purchase it

— eFootball (@play_eFootball) September 16, 2021

So what exactly do you get with your money? Well, for starters, you get 2,800 coins and eight chance deals that help you build your Creative Team, which is apparently the new name for MyClub, Konami’s version of FIFA’s Ultimate Team. These chance deals will then help you to sign one of 16 players from Konami’s partner clubs, which features players such as Bayern’s Dayot Upamecano. You’ll also be able to purchase this pack twice, meaning that if you do so you’ll have all 16 players from the partner clubs.

So without even playing the game, which I repeat doesn’t look to be ready yet, you can theoretically fork over $80 for 16 players that won’t be in the game until November 11, according to the PlayStation Store. And don’t forget about the 2,800 coins of which you won’t have anywhere to spend. Again, more curious head-scratching marketing by Konami who need to pull off a slight miracle at this point in order for the game to be on par with last year’s Season Update, let alone FIFA 22.

PC Specs

In addition to the news of the Premium Player Pack detailed above, the Steam site for eFootball 2022 also dropped some information about the specs required in order to play it on the PC:

System Requirements

Not too much of a difference between eFootball 2022 and last year’s Season Update, with the one noticeable difference being an additional 10 GB of storage required for this year’s version. Perhaps this is the cost of Konami switching from the Fox Engine to the Unreal Engine 4. One question we don’t know at this time is whether or not there will be any differences between the versions (PC, PS5/4, Mobile, Xbox Series X/One) besides graphics. EA has already confirmed that the PS4/Xbox One version of FIFA 22 won’t have the biggest gameplay feature, HyperMotion, which will feature prominently on next-gen consoles.

Konami’s main impetus behind eFootball 2022 is cross-play, which if pulled off will bring numerous players together, something that EA hasn’t even been able to accomplish with FIFA, much to the chagrin of the community.

Bottom Line

With very little information out for a game that releases in under two weeks, the folks over at Konami are set to miss out on a great opportunity despite the core game being free. Again, it’s worth mentioning how strange the communication coming out of Konami has been up to this point — case in point being the fact that this Premium Player Pack news wasn’t even officially announced on eFootball’s Twitter account. Instead, it was community members who noticed an update on eFootball 2022’s Steam account, which not only contained this news but also the PC specs outlined above.

With under two weeks left before we get out our hands on the official core game, the skepticism embedded within the PES community is well deserved. As always, we’ll keep you up to date on the latest information regarding eFootball 2022.