Konami Clarifies eFootball Information Following Trailer Reveal

The reaction to yesterday’s eFootball reveal by Konami was universally poor. If Konami’s goal was to unite the community, then the company certainly achieved that, just not in the manner it hoped. As is usually the case when bad press arrives, companies go into full spin mode by releasing additional details with the idea to help clarify previously released information. In case you missed it, and if you’re a traditional PES fan you probably didn’t considering #konami was trending on Twitter, you can check our our impressions of the reveal here. As for now, let’s get you all caught up on the latest eFootball information.

Latest eFootball Information

From eFootball’s Official Twitter Account

The mobile version of #eFootball ™ will be provided as an update to the current app available on iOS & Android.

Select user data will be carried over to eFootball™ on mobile, with much more details to be shared in the future.

— eFootball (@play_eFootball) July 22, 2021

If you already have the current mobile app, an update will be provided free of charge. Additionally, select user data will carry to the mobile versions from either your console or PC. This hopefully means Master League saves because it would be cool to be able to do team management activities from your phone and play actual matches from a console or PC.

#eFootball ™ cross-platform online matches will be further improved with a new engine and adjusted to take *full* advantage of each platform.

In addition, offline modes such as "Master League" will be sold in the future as optional DLC on all compatible devices.

— eFootball (@play_eFootball) July 22, 2021

Here is confirmation from Konami that if you’re on the PS5 and playing against an opponent using the PS4 your experience won’t suffer as result of your opponent using a less powerful machine. This presumably means graphics, but this is in stark contrast to EA’s approach for FIFA 22 where all of the next-gen features will only be available to those of us on next-gen consoles. If Konami is successful with this, it’s a huge win for a company perceived to have fewer resources than EA.

Master League isn’t dead, it’s just sleeping! “Optional DLC” means we’ll probably have to shell out some money for this, but if you’re only interested in say Master League and don’t touch MyClub you would be saving money as opposed to dishing out $60 for a full game with modes and features that you won’t play. It’s not a bad business model, although I suspect Konami will entice folks to play by offering promotions and/or maybe even offering them for free on a trial basis.

From Konami Senior Manager Adam Bhatti

I cannot comment on this, as this should be addressed by those who are working on the game. My only advice to everyone is to wait until the next drop of information at the end of next month 👍 https://t.co/qkWL9yL7V6

— Adam Bhatti (@Adam_Bhatti) July 22, 2021

No comment from Konami Senior Manager Adam Bhatti (he is no longer strictly working on PES/eFootball) regarding what version of eFootball was shown in yesterday’s trailer. All indications point towards the mobile version (formerly known as PES-lite) but we cannot confirm this.

And imagine, the fact people have the option to pay for DLC, it needs to be of a high level to make people want to pay.

Super exciting times, very proud of the dev team to be the first to take such a dramatic step to revolutionise the way we play sports games. 👏 #eFootball https://t.co/XGGQwAdNU3

— Adam Bhatti (@Adam_Bhatti) July 22, 2021

More confirmation that eFootball will be an a la carte service. This is an interesting strategy by Konami and one that many of us, especially those who like FIFA but hate FUT, would probably like. If a fully released game costs $60 and is broken up by modes, say $20 for FUT, $20 for career mode, etc., then I wouldn’t mind only paying for the modes I like. It will be interesting to see how other gaming companies like EA and Sony react to this new strategic approach for a AAA sports title.

We’re proud to have you on board @neymarjr 🙌

Are you excited, #PES2021 fans?! https://t.co/71yTwNzCIf

— eFootball (@play_eFootball) July 20, 2021

Joining the two biggest football — and arguably most popular athletes in the world — Neymar joins his once-Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as an eFootball brand ambassador — not a bad front three if you ask me.

Tidbits From The IGN Article With eFootball Series Producer Seitaro Kimura

 “We started planning this move roughly two years ago to coincide with the console generation transition and changes in the market environment. 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.”

A little insight into the thought process from Konami reflecting the popularity of mobile games. PES-lite was rumored to have nearly 400 million downloads, which is a huge reach for any mobile game or app. This kind of reach should generate bundles of cash from advertisers, which could translate into resources dumped back into the game to improve the game mechanics and/or allow them to compete with EA on the license front.

On how Konami prioritizes development among different platforms:

“We’re still making games on consoles first. We then take that exact same experience and make it available for mobile devices. In other words, we are not making the game for mobile, but working to make mobile more console-like.”

Good news here as Konami states that the developers are building the game for consoles first instead of taking the PC approach of building a game with minimal specifications allowing more people to play if their PC specs aren’t high-end.

Regarding graphics:

“We would ask our fans to not worry, we have made great efforts to tailor the visual quality of the game to the hardware of each device.”

Oh, we were very worried yesterday. Slightly less worried today but still a tad bit worried. What we saw visually yesterday wasn’t good enough for the PS4/Xbox One, let alone the new generation of consoles.

On the Unreal Engine transition:

“That’s why we chose Unreal Engine. 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.”

Again, Mr. Kimura reiterates how versatile the Unreal Engine is with the capability of scaling the same game to multiple platforms. This makes sense considering the previous quote regarding how long they’ve been planning this move.

On the new button controls this year:

“‘Ball Control’ is new this year,” Kimura explains, “which 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’.”

It’s a little ironic that FIFA 22 is utilizing traditional PES controls like the double-tap sprint to push the ball forward and quickly accelerate while Konami has gone to FIFA‘s sprint button being tied to R2/RT for eFootball. A few new additional features are also teased but aren’t really explained. Perhaps we’ll receive more information on these leading up the late-August release.

On their ambassadors:

“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,” Kimura explains. “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.”

Andres Iniesta has been a part of the PES development team for a few years, coinciding with his move to Japan’s top division after a long and successful career with FC Barcelona. Pique is a new ambassador this year, and if we’re being honest, isn’t the best player to detail defensive abilities (yeah, I went for it).

On their new direction:

“We’re making it so that people can enjoy playing against other players, as this provides a greater thrill than what AI can provide,” reasons Kimura. “We believe that the 1v1 offense and defense realized in this way is the most important innovation of eFootball.”

Again, the trend here is player vs. player as opposed to player vs. the AI. As long as they don’t dumb down our AI teammates, we should be good here as PES has always tried to replicate 1v1 battles on the pitch. It will be interesting to see if second-man pressure will still be included as a defensive mechanic come release.

On the difference between this year and last year’s “Season Update”:

“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.”

Change in general isn’t always bad. Sometimes you have to take risks in order to achieve new levels of success, and it seems that Konami is willing to stick its chin out and stand behind the product. As always, it’s the consumers that dictate success, either through sales/downloads and/or critic reviews.

Regarding the new “on-the-fly” ability:

“The platform model gives us the opportunity to provide meaningful updates irregularly, if appropriate, without having to ask users to download a new game.”

This is an interesting approach. Usually console game approval comes from Microsoft or Sony, and they do not allow for instant patches/updates. It’s part of the reason why Konami rolls faces, gameplay updates, and even modes into Data Packs. These Data Packs don’t follow a set schedule, so if Konami is able to push these out more frequently and with no effects to option files, game saves, and so on, then the adaptability proposed here is a game changer.

On if some traditional PES quirks will be added:

“There are no plans to do so currently. However, if there is a lot of demand for it, it may be on the roadmap in the future.”

Community requests taken into consideration and possibly implemented? That’s a good start for a company that doesn’t exude transparency.

That’s it for now folks, but stay tuned as we update you all with the latest and greatest from eFootball.