Football video game PES rebrands to eFootball, becomes free-to-play

Konami is also ditching yearly releases of the game, which will have yearly free updates for the new season.

Brandon Leong

Compulsive playlist maker.

Published: 22 July 2021, 1:34 PM

Football video game series Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) has been rebranded to eFootball, Konami announced on Wednesday (Jul 22).

Also referred to as Winning Eleven in Japan, the longtime rival to EA Sports’ FIFA will now be fully free-to-play on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, and PC.

The iOS and Android versions are expected to follow, with all versions of the game to feature cross-play among the different platforms.

Konami is also ditching the conventional yearly game releases as well, instead providing yearly free roster, kits and gameplay updates for the new season.

eFootball will launch with exhibition matches and a selection of nine clubs, including Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich. Other modes will subsequently be made available as an optional DLC, at a cost.

eFootball series producer, Seitaro Kimura, said the preparation of this shift was initiated years ago to “coincide with the console generation transition.”

Konami added it will announce more about eFootball’s gameplay and online modes in late August.