When you think of football soccer video games it’s likely that your first thought is of the FIFA franchise, but there is, or rather was a competing franchise called Pro Evolution Soccer (PES). Until now, PES had been a game that you bought the usual old-fashioned way and played but it seems that Konami has seen the revenue raked in by EA and decided that it wants a slice of the freemium revenue pie for itself. Thus we have the news that Konami is launching a new soccer simulation game called eFootball that will be free-to-play.
The eFootball simulation game will launch on all platforms, replacing PES in the process. Being free-to-play, Konami is almost certainly going to add In-App-Purchases to the gaming experience, so you can expect to be nickel-and-dimed for team shirts, players, and maybe even which color ball is used. It’s unclear whether you can pay for Messi to show enthusiasm for the game or to remove Neymar’s confused expression as yet, but you can be sure that their agents aren’t getting Christmas cards this year.
Built on the Unreal graphics engine, Konami’s eFootball game will launch on the Xbox Series X|S & One, PlayStation 4 & 5, along with PC (Windows & Steam) this fall according to the roadmap above. Mobile gamers aren’t being left behind, though, because eFootball is scheduled to hit Android and iOS smartphones sometime during winter along with support for cross-platform play. And hey, doesn’t Messi look excited that he’s featured in the eFootball game?
Hopefully, the eFootball game is better than we fear but with the addition of IAPs, a healthy dose of skepticism is required. At least it will be free-to-play so you don’t have to spend any money unless you absolutely feel the need to do so. What do you think of Konami’s decision to replace PES with eFootball?
